You want to make a memory
by irg19
Summary: Set four and a half years into the future after their high school graduation. How are the main five today? What has become of their lives and what does the future hold? Mainly Brucas, BLP and Naley but includes a lot of other characters.
1. You want to make a memory

**Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters of One Tree Hill or anything at all to do with the show.**

**Author's note:**** So this is my first story. I would love to know what you dear reader think so please review. Here is the first chapter, enjoy:)**

**Chapter I: You want to make a memory?**

Haley was hurrying out of her office when a young girl stepped in an asked her if she had a minute.

"Sure, but only a minute" Haley said sighing. She loved teaching but this wasn't a good time. She looked at the girl with a questioning look.

"Umm I was wondering..if you could help me out" her voice started to break as she kept on talking: "You see I'm not doing so good in math and I'm afraid I'm gonna fail."

Haley had no idea she was doing so badly, she was at the top of her english class which Haley was teaching her in: „Oh I didn't know that..do you think you might need a tutor?"

"Yeah I think that is a good idea, I don't know how else to catch up on my studies" she said looking a little relieved.

"Okay great, I'll find you a good tutor tomorrow but now I need to go" Haley said still in a hurry.

The girl smiled thankfully and left Haley's office.

"Finally I can go pick up Jamie" Haley thought to herself.

She drove as fast as she could to Jamie's kindergarten to pick him up. She was running really late and worried he might be the only kid left.

"So where is my boy?" Haley asked Susan, Jamie's teacher. "His father picked him up over an hour ago, did you get your wires crossed or something?" Susan asked in a concerned voice.

Haley was sure Nathan wasn't supposed to pick up Jamie. When he wanted to pick him up he always left Haley a message. "Oh we must have misunderstood each other" Haley told Susan and then left as quickly as she had arrived.

She called the house, no answer, then she called Nathan's cell. Again there was no answer, Haley started to worry there might be something really wrong. Then her cell rang. The screen flashed: HOME.

Haley flipped her phone open: "Hello Nathan?"

"Hey honey, where are you?" Nathan asked on the other end.

"Where am I? I'm in the car, I went to pick up Jamie and they said you picked him up, what's going on? Why didn't you let me know?" Haley was annoyed with Nathan.

"Ohh babe I'm so sorry, I completely forgot to tell you. Are you on your way home now?" Nathan asked sounding a little wierd.

Haley was suspicious, this wasn't like Nathan. "Okay what is going on? You sound really weird and forgetting to tell me you were gonna pick up Jamie isn't like you at all. Is something wrong?" she was getting more and more worried by the second.

Nathan tried his best to calm Haley down: "Nothing is going on okay, I just forgot to tell you. Now get your butt home this instant" he said in a joking tone.

"Fine" Haley gave up, but only for the time being. She was going to crack him as soon as she got home.

She pulled up at their house, drove her car into the driveway and took her keys out of the ignition. She was tired but that wasn't going to stop her from finding out what was going on with Nathan, she got her game face on as she exited the car and headed for the front door.

Nathan noticed Haley walking up to the front door so he jumped in front of it and opened it: "Welcome home the most beautiful girl in the world" he said smirking at her while spreading out his arms giving her a big hug.

Haley couldn't help but think this was very strange behavior, even for Nathan who had had his share of odd conduct. "Thanks, this is an unusally nice greeting though" Haley couldn't help but grin a little. "So where is our little hellraiser?" she asked as she pulled out of the hug and took her coat off.

"He's at his grandmother's" Nathan replied indifferently.

"What? Why?" Haley was getting frustrated.

"Because we need to be alone" Nathan responded flashing his trademark smirk.

Haley was losing patience: "But why? I don't get it! And don't you smirk at me okay! I'm getting really upset with you Nathan."

"Babe just sit down and wait for five minutes. Then I will explain everything to you okay?" Nathan tried to set Haley's mind at ease.

"Fine" Haley said sitting down. She folded her hands and pouted.

Five minutes later Nathan emerged from the bedroom trying to go unnoticed by Haley, he wanted to get into the kitchen before she could see what he was wearing. Luckily she was looking out the window so he sneaked into the kitchen and got the food ready. He also opened a bottle of red wine and poured into two glasses. Last minute touches were needed and he finished everything in record time. Everything was perfect, now all he needed was to get Haley to close her eyes.

"Haley, close your eyes!" He yelled from the kitchen.

"Why?" Haley replied.

"Just do it! And keep'em closed until I say otherwise" he said eagerly.

Haley closed her eyes utterly unaware of what was going on: "They're closed" she mumbled.

Nathan hurried the food into the living/dining room as fast as he could, he lit about ten candles before placing one of the wineglasses next to Haley's hand and took the other one in his own hand. He let out a big sigh, this had been more challenging than he thought: "Now you can open your big brown eyes and tell me what you think."

Haley slowly opened her eyes, the first thing she noticed was the glass filled with red wine. She was about to say something when she looked up and saw Nathan dressed in a stunning tuxedo with a brand new haircut. She was speechless, he looked more handsome than ever. Then she glanced over the table where a big sirloin steak complete with all the trimmings was laid out. She tried to speak again but there were no words, she just sat there with her mouth gaping. Finally she found her voice: "Nathan, what is all this? I don't know what to say..it's…it's amazing. You cooked this?"

"Yeah, well mom helped me out a little but mostly I did all the work" Nathan smiled at Haley.

"You didn't tell me what all this was for" Haley whispered.

"You still haven't figured that out?" Nathan said.

Haley was so tired she couldn't think straight: "No I have no idea."

"Baby it's our anniversary. Today is six years since we got married" he said looking deep into Haley's eyes.

Haley felt a wave of guilt washing over her: "Oh my god I am so sorry, I completely forgot about our anniversary. I am like the worst wife ever" she stood up and started pacing the floor, after a minute she stopped and looked at her husband: "You went to all this trouble and I didn't even remember, I'm sorry honey but things have just been so crazy lately with work and Jamie. I know that's no excuse but honestly I'm physically and mentally drained" she said looking down.

Nathan pulled Haley to the couch and sat her down, he placed himself beside her and took her hands: "I know and it's okay. That's why I did all this. I knew you probably wouldn't remember because of all the stress lately and I just wanted to give you this night so you could unwind a little bit and just spend some time with me. I love you and in spite of your awful memory you are not the worst wife ever. I'd say far from it." He caressed the side of her face with his hand and leaned in to kiss her a long overdue anniversary kiss. Haley melted into his arms as they kissed passionately. When the kiss finally came to an end Nathan whispered: "Our food is getting cold. " Haley didn't care, she wasn't hungry for food: "I don't want the food, I want you" she whispered back. Nathan stood up from the couch and picked her up with his strong hands, he carried her to the bedroom and placed her on the bed. He took his jacket off and began unbuttoning his shirt. Haley took off her top while looking at Nathan who was now shirtless.

"You should get your nipple ring back" she said in a soft voice.

"Oh you liked that did you?" he said grinning.

"Yep I always thought it was very sexy" she put her arms around his neck and pulled him onto the bed.

"You did huh? Well I'm gonna have to get it back then" he said while leaning in for a kiss.

Haley stopped him, she wanted to tease him a little bit: "Wait wait I don't think you've earned this" she said smirking at him.

"Uh what? I surprised you with a big fancy dinner and put on a tux..I mean that's gotta count for something?" he was clearly disappointed.

Haley tried to stifle her laughing but it came bursting out: "I'm sorry but you should have seen the look on your face" she said laughing.

"You are pure evil you know that?" he couldn't help but laugh with her, then he pulled out his serious and intense look and said: "lucky for you I think that's a hell of a turn-on."

Haley was still laughing but she quickly stopped when Nathan started nibbling on her ear and unhooking her bra at the same time. She couldn't wait any longer, she had to have him. Before they knew it all their clothes were off and Nathan was kissing every inch of her body. He kissed her breasts and then made his way to her stomach, he kept going further until he was between her thigs. He let his tongue explore everything, Haley moaned and he felt himself getting hard. She was ready and he was ready. He rolled over on his back and motioned Haley to get on top of him, she did just that and began to ride him. She felt all of her fatigue fade away as she took control. After a minute she felt an orgasm coming on. He felt it coming too, they looked into each other's eyes and both of them knew how the other was feeling. They were completetly in sync with each other as they both had explosive orgasms at the same time. Haley's moans turned to gasps as she rolled off Nathan and looked at him.

"That was amazing" she said still fighting to breathe.

"That's one word for it" he said chuckling.

Haley hit him on the arm: "I'm serious, it hasn't been that good in a long time. Not that it's ever been bad but you know what I mean..Why is that?"

"Maybe because of Jamie? I mean he's usually in the next room so we can't make any noise or get really into it…I don't know, maybe it's just cause we're an old married couple" he said laughing again.

"Yeah you're right, about Jamie I mean. We have got to get him out of the house more often if this is what we can have" Haley said beaming.

Nathan looked into Haley's eyes. She seemed so worn out earlier but now there was no hint of that, she was glowing: "I love you more than anyone you know?" he whispered.

"What about Jamie?" Haley said raising an eyebrow.

"Yeah him too" Nathan laughed.

"I never thought I would be so lucky as to find you, you're everything I could have hoped for in a husband. Just tonight showed me that I've been taking you for granted lately but that will not happen again. I'm sorry" Haley said looking firmly into Nathan's eyes.

"I forgive you" he said.

Haley fell asleep with her head rested on Nathan's chest. He thought to himself that he was the luckiest guy in the whole wide world. He listened to the sounds of a thunderstorm rolling in. The rain was already falling on the roof and he could hear the thunder from far away getting closer. He hoped Jamie wasn't too afraid.

A few minutes later Nathan heard a knock on the door…


	2. Sleeping with the past

**Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters of One Tree Hill or anything at all to do with the show.**

**Author's note: ****Hope you all enjoyed the first chapter. Thanks for the reviews. ****I kind of messed up on the timeline, Naley have been married for six years not five. ****Now to the second one.**** B****tw I've decided to name the chapters after songs (like the actual OTH episodes)****. Enjoy:)**

**Chapter II: Sleeping with the past**

A few minutes later Nathan heard a knock on the door…

Haley was fast asleep so he rolled her gently off his chest and put some boxers on. A moment later he opened the front door to a sopping wet Brooke Davis.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Meanwhile in New York city…

Lucas was sitting alone in his apartment, his and Brooke's apartment. He was looking at a photo cradled in his hands. The photo was of him and Brooke taken exactly one year ago. On her birthday. She was holding a puppy and smiling from ear to ear.

_Flashback__ to one year ago at Tric…_

_Lucas stood__ in the middle of the club looking at all the decorations._

_"__This night i__s going to be perfect" he thought__ to himself._

_"__Hey perv, the place looks great!" __A familiar voice from behind said_

_Lucas turned__ around to see his best friend and sister-in-law Haley. _

_He gave __her a quick hug: __"It's so good to see __you, I've missed you.." he looked__ around: "where's Jamie?"_

_"Oh he's at home with his dad, I'm going to pick t__hem up for the party" Haley said__ with a smile on her face: "I can't believe you guys came to Tree Hill to celebrate Brooke's birthday, that is so awesome!"_

_"Yeah well that's what Brooke wanted and I couldn't be happier about it..__plus __we get to spend some time with you and Nate, not to__ mention our godson" Lucas said __with love in his eyes._

_Haley nodded__: "Yep and time with us you'll get! Starting tonight. Ooh that reminds me, I've gotta go pic__k up my boys, see ya!" she yelled__ the last wor__ds as she walked__ away._

_"Yep this night is go__ing to be perfect" Lucas repeated to himself as he checked__ his watch._

_Later that night…_

_"It's t__ime for your present" Lucas said__ eying Brooke with a sheepish grin on his face._

_"Oh my god I love presents! What is it? What is __it? I'm dying here!" Brooke said__ while __practically __jumping up and down._

_"Wait a second, I'm gonna go get it, it's __in the other room" Lucas replied_

_"You be__tter hurry or else!" Brooke said__ tugging on Lucas' arm._

_"So how does __it feel turning 22?" Nathan said__ walking up to Brooke hand in hand with Jamie._

_"Yeah how does it feel being so old aunt Brooke?"__ Jamie said__ with a huge smirk._

_"You take after your father you know that tigger?"__ Brooke said__ smirking back at him._

_"I know, mommy __says it all the time" Jamie said__ smir__king like never before. At that moment he spotted Lily and ran__ over to her._

_"So how's your life Brooke? I mean now that you're a big time fashion designer and you and Luke seem happy..got everyt__hing you want?" Nathan continued_

_"I don't know, I feel like something's missing. Don't get me wrong I love my life, my clothes and Luke. Things couldn't be better, it's just __that I miss Peyton you know. A lot actually, I haven't even told Lucas about this__ because he blames himself,__ but I really worry about her and I just want to__know __if __she's alright" tears began__ to fo__rm in Brooke's eyes as she looked__ down: " I just miss her, that's all."_

_" I miss her too, I wish she would contact us but I guess we gotta face the truth, there is nothing we can do to help her until she __admits __that she needs help" Nathan said__ in a hopeless voice._

_He put __his arms around her and whispered__: "It's gonna be okay, everything's gonna be alright..don't worry."_

_"What's the matter?" Lucas was__ standing next to them._

_"Oh nothing, I was just getting teary-eyed about tu__rning 22 that's all" Brooke said__ wiping away her tears._

_"Pretty girl I think you're the first person ev__er to cry about that" Lucas said__ laughin__g__: "Look everybody's here and we're all gonna have a good time, no more crying okay?"_

_"Okay I promise, now __where's my present?" Brooke replied__ glaring at him._

_"Whoa you don't miss a beat do you__? Well here it is" Lucas uncovered__ a __cage with a yellow Labrador __puppy inside of it. Brooke threw__her hands up the air and squealed. She opened the cage and picked__ him up._

_"He's so cute! It's a__ "__he__"__ right?" Brooke asked_

_"Of course, he doesn't have a name yet so I thought __I'd let you pick one" Lucas said__ grinning._

_"Umm ohh I don't know, __this is a toughie.." Brooke pondered._

_"Well you don__'t have to find one right n.." Lucas got__ cut off by Brooke yelling: "OOH I know! Brucas! That's what I'll call him..Brucas."_

_"Uhh that's a weird __name, even for a dog" Lucas said__ with a confused look on his face._

_"That's our names combined silly. You know like Naley, ours is Brucas..don't y__ou like it?" Brooke said__ in disappointment._

_"Ooohh of course silly me, I do like it. I just didn't get it right away.__ In fact, I love it!" Lucas said__ trying to sound convincing._

_"Picture time!" Haley yelled as she snapped__ a photo of Brooke, Lucas and Brucas._

_-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------_

Lucas' trip down memory lane was interrupted by a knock on the door.

"Who is it?" He yelled but there was no answer.

He slowly opened up the door to find a faded version of a girl he used to know.

"Hey Luke, long time no see. Mind if I come in?" The girl said in a raspy voice.

"Uhh sure" he said while pointing to the couch in the living room: "take a seat."

As she sat down Lucas noticed how skinny she had become, she was always thin before but now she had slimmed down to nothing: "Do you want something to eat? You look like you haven't eaten anything in a while" he said in a concerned voice.

"No thanks, my appetite is not very good right now"..she said: "Sit down next to me, tell me everything. How is Brooke?"

"To be honest I don't really know, I screwed things up and she went to Tree Hill" he replied.

The girl clapped her hands together: "Nice work Lucas, what did you do this time?" she said in a sarcastic tone.

"That is none of your business alright. I haven't seen or heard from you in God knows how long and you just waltz in here and start judging me when you don't know anything about my life!" Luke yelled angrily.

She yelled back : "Well I know that you've been a dick to Brooke in the past and you know what? You were also a dick to me!!"

"I know that! I know that.." Lucas calmed down: "I know and I'm sorry, I never should have treated you the way I did..I know that it's my fault that you started doing drugs again. I never stopped caring about you though..you have to know that" he looked into her eyes trying to get through to her.

"I know..I never stopped caring about you either. In fact I never stopped loving you Lucas. If you could just give me a chance I know we could work things out, I'll go to rehab and we can build our lives from there" the girl said tearing up.

"I'm sorry but I can't do that..I love Brooke. She's the one for me and the sooner you accept that the sooner you can get the help you need" Lucas said in a caring voice.

The girl stood up, spat in Lucas' face and made her way to the door.

"Peyton! Please don't go" Lucas said.

She opened the door, turned around and stared at Lucas in way that pierced through him: "I can't believe I ever loved you, you pathetic son of a bitch. I hope Brooke never forgives you!" She yelled as she slammed the door.

Lucas made his way into the bedroom and let himself fall onto the bed. Brucas was lying there sleeping but opened his eyes and looked at Lucas for a moment before closing them again. Lucas looked at the alarm clock, it read 00:05. Five minutes of Brooke's birthday had passed, he wondered what she was doing. He sighed as he reached over to the lamp on the nighstand and turned it off.


	3. Happy birthday blues

**Disclaimer: ****I own nothing to do with One Tree Hill or the characters.**

**Author's note:**** So here is the third chapter. It's pretty long but I didn't feel like I should cut it into two chapters. Hope you enjoy it!**

**Chapter III: Happy birthday blues**

A few minutes later Nathan heard a knock on the door…

Haley was fast asleep so he rolled her gently off his chest and put some boxers on. A moment later he opened the front door to a sopping wet Brooke Davis.

"Hi Nate, can I come in?" she asked shivering.

Nathan stood there a little dumbfounded for a moment before letting her in.

"What are you doing here? Where's Luke?" he asked her.

Brooke put her suitcases down in the living room and plopped herself on the couch. "I am here because I need to get away from Lucas, away from New York and I guess that anwers your question about him."

"Okay, what's going on? Are you guys having problems?" he asked.

"Yep, the stupid jerk just…he just" she couldn't get more words out, all her mixed emotions were surfacing and she was fighting the tears.

Nathan walked over to the couch and sat down next to her: "It's okay, we don't have to talk about this right now. Look you can stay here for as long as you like. The guest room is all made up, you should get out of these wet clothes and just get some rest. We'll talk about everything in the morning okay?"

Brooke leaned over to Nathan and said: "Thank you, you're the best."

"I know" he said smirking which caused Brooke to smile a little bit.

* * *

Haley woke to the sounds of a bird chirping right outside her window, the sun was up on a Saturday morning and she was the happiest she had been in a long time. The moment she realised Nathan wasn't beside her was the exact same moment she heard laughing coming from the kitchen. "What is going on?" she wondered as she put on one of Nathan's t-shirts. She smelled pancakes and figured Nathan was making her breakfast..

Meanwhile in the kitchen Nathan and Brooke were cooking up a storm.

"So do you like cooking shirtless?" Brooke grinned at Nathan.

"Um no, I'm afraid I'm gonna get burned any second now" Nathan responded with a laugh: "but a bet is a bet right?"

"It sure is" Brooke said giggling.

"Brooke!? Oh my god is that you?" Haley had emerged from the bedroom .

"Hey tutor girl!" Brooke exclaimed as she ran to embrace her friend.

Haley was stunned to see Brooke but managed to hug her back: "What are you doing here? Is Lucas with you?" Haley asked beaming.

"Uhh no I" Brooke started to talk but Nathan cut her off: "It's just Brooke, Luke is back in New York. Haley can I talk to you in the bedroom for a sec? Brooke you can watch the pancakes right?"

Both of the girls said: "yeah" in unison as Nathan led Haley to the bedroom. Brooke was thankful to Nathan, he knew she was probably going to start crying again if she had to explain why Lucas wasn't with her.

"Okay what is going on?" Haley asked Nathan as soon as he closed the bedroom door.

"Look Haley, Brooke is going to stay with us for a while. She and Lucas are having some problems, I don't know exactly what is going on but she was really upset last night, she couldn't get two words out without tearing up…I think it's serious." Nathan said.

"Oh my god I had no idea they were having problems…I don't understand why neither one of them would confide in me?" Haley sighed.

"I guess we've drifted apart over the years..I mean they do live in New York and we live in Tree Hill" Nathan felt guilty. "Anyway I worked all morning trying to get her in a good mood and I didn't want her to start talking about Lucas again until she was ready you know?"

"Yeah yeah um..we should get out there and talk to her, make her feel welcome" Haley said.

Nathan took her in his arms: "I love you babe" he mumbled into her hair.

"I'm very fond of you too" Haley smiled…she did feel kinda guilty being so happy when Lucas and Brooke were in limbo.

"Hey you two aren't going at it in there are you?" a voice on the other side of the door yelled.

Nathan and Haley both burst out laughing.

* * *

Later that day…

Haley and Brooke were in the car on their way to pick up Jamie from Deb's when Brooke's cell rang. She looked at the caller id and put the phone back in her purse.

"Is it Lucas?" Haley asked Brooke.

"No it's my assistant Milly, I just don't feel like talking to her right now. I'm going to enjoy this day with my best friend and my godson" Brooke said.

"Speaking of best friends, have you heard from Peyton lately?" Haley said cautiously.

"No…but Rachel saw her a couple of weeks ago at a club, she told me she looked like hell" she sighed.

"I wish there was something we could do to help her" Haley half-whispered.

"I gave up on her a long time ago Haley. I had to do it, she's beyond helping" Brooke said in a low voice."Let's not talk about her okay? I just want to have fun today."

Haley nodded. "Noted. Here we are."

They pulled up at Deb's house and Jamie immediately came out running. Haley jumped out of the car.

"Mommy!" he yelled running into Haley's arms.

"Hey sweetie, did you have a good time at grandma's?" she asked her son.

"It was alright..grandma's new boyfriend gave me some candy" Jamie said with a big smile.

"Shush you weren't supposed to tell her that remember?" Deb joked walking down the driveway.

"Hey Deb, new boyfriend huh? Anyone I know?" Haley said grinning at Deb.

Deb rolled her eyes. "Haley I've known John for a while now, and yes we are dating."

"Okay fine..I'll meet him some other time, we gotta go. Thanks for sitting" Haley said. She put Jamie in the car and fastened his seatbelt.

As Haley backed out of the driveway Brooke turned in her seat so she was facing Jamie: "Hey tigger, how have you been?"

Jamie, who hadn't noticed Brooke until then, squeeled with happiness when he saw her. "Aunt Brooke! Hi!"

Brooke was glad to see her godson so happy: "I'm gonna stay with you for a little while, what do you think about that?"

"Really?! That'll be fun! We can play dressup and sing together and play basketball together, is uncle Luke with you too? He can play basketball with us!" Jamie was thrilled to say the least.

"No sweetie, Lucas isn't with me but we're gonna have lots of fun just the two of us. Starting now because we're going shopping yay" Brooke said trying to sound excited.

Haley looked at Jamie in the rear view mirror. "Should I be concerned that you got him into shopping and playing dressup?" she said to Brooke.

"Maybe" Brooke replied laughing.

* * *

Later that night…

Nathan was putting Jamie to bed and Haley was offering Brooke a glass of wine in the living room.

"I'd love a glass of wine thanks" Brooke smiled at Haley.

Haley poured her a glass of red."So how are you feeling? Are you ready to talk about Lucas yet?"

Brooke looked down for a minute and then up at Haley: "No not really…I don't even want to think about him right now" she had tears in her eyes.

"Brooke whatever it is, I'm sure you'll work it out. You two have been through so much and fought so hard to be together that this can't be the end."

Brooke was grateful to Haley but she knew things would never be the same again: "Thanks Hales but I'm afraid this might be the end, I don't see how we could ever get past this. A year ago I was the happiest girl on the planet, remember my birthday party here in Tree Hill? It was so amazing, I had everyone there who I loved in the same room celebrating with me and Luke and I were so in love. The only downside was that Peyton wasn't there…and now everything is ruined" tears began streaming down Brooke's face: "How did I get to here Haley? Why did I even consider taking Lucas back? He had hurt me so much before and I was the stupid idiot to trust him again. I even lost my best friend in the process..for good."

"Hey Peyton taking drugs again was not your fault okay?" Haley looked Brooke in the eye: "Peyton already had a weakness for drugs, remember when she did cocaine with that Rick guy?"

"Yes I remember that but if it wasn't for me and Lucas she never would have turned to drugs again. I tried, we both tried our best to help her but she was so angry at us that she just sank deeper and deeper" Brooke was now full on crying.

" Nathan and I also tried to help her, we all did but she didn't want any help and until she does there's nothing that we can do so just stop worrying about her and stop blaming yourself Brooke. You're a good person and a good friend and there's nothing that you can say that will convince me otherwise" Haley said to a sobbing Brooke.

To Haley's surprise Brooke put her arms around her: "If anybody's a good friend, that's you" she whispered. "Even though you forgot my birthday."

Haley pulled out of the hug: "Oh my god it's your birthday, I totally forgot I'm so sorry."

"It's fine, you're not the only one. Nobody has wished me happy birthday today except my assistant but she's an ass-kisser so" Brooke said wiping her tears away.

Haley gave her a small smile: "I love you Brooke and I hope this birthday was alright."

"Are you kidding? It was great, spending the day with you and Jamie was perfect" Brooke smiled back.

"Good. Well I'm off to bed, don't stay up too late" Haley said before getting up and walking to the bedroom.

Brooke went to bed as well, before turning off the light she said to herself: "Happy birthday Brooke, welcome to twenty-three. You've certainly made a mess of it."

Twenty minutes later Brooke's cell rang on the nightstand, she was finally drifting off to sleep so she was very annoyed before looking at the caller id. It said: Rachel.

"Hey ho what's up?" Brooke said when she flipped her cell open.

"Hey you crazy bitch, happy birthday!" Rachel almost yelled on the other end. It sounded like she was in a bar.

"Thanks, well at least one person remembered" Brooke smiled. "Where are you?"

"I'm at a bar with this boring girl I did a shoot with today, why don't you come so we can celebrate your birthday together?" Rachel said.

"I can't, I'm in Tree Hill" Brooke said.

"Well so am I you dingbat, I talked to Lucas and he told me that you were here. You're coming to Mclaren's right now okay?" Rachel was persistent.

Brooke nudged herself up in the bed. "You talked to Lucas? What else did he say?"

"I'll tell you when you get down here, put on something sexy and call a cab, I'll be waiting" Rachel rolled off her tongue in one breath and then hung up.

"Wait Rachel!" Brooke sighed and put the phone back on the nightstand. She thought about it for a minute and then decided to go meet her. She put on a slinky, black dress and black leather boots before heading out the door.

Fifteen minutes later Brooke was at Mclaren's bar scanning the room. She saw Rachel sitting at the bar with a drink in hand.

"Hi" Brooke said with a smile.

Rachel turned to see Brooke standing next to her so she gave her a hug: "You look almost as hot as me" she said flashing a smile.

"I haven't heard that line for a long time" Brooke said. She had forgotten how much fun it was to hang out with Rachel. "So what are you doing in Tree Hill?"

"I had a shoot here today for Versace. It was really hot" Rachel said grinning: "And I'm also seeing a guy who's from Tree Hill believe it or not."

"I don't believe it" Brooke blurted out. "Sorry but I didn't think you'd go for the small town type of guy."

"He actually lives in New York, he's just here visiting his parents this week. Anyway I really like this guy. I'll tell you all about him just let me get us some cocktails, why don't you grab us a table?" Rachel said giving the bartender a signal.

"Fine" Brooke mumbled as she walked over to an empty table. A minute later Rachel walked over holding two appletinis.

"So tell me about this guy" Brooke said taking a sip of her drink.

"He's really really hot" Rachel started with the basics: "and smart and nice and very good in bed" she said winking at Brooke.

Brooke couldn't help but laugh. "I'm sorry I don't mean to laugh but I've never heard you talk about a guy like this before. Are you serious about him?"

"I think I'm falling for him..it's weird but I haven't felt this way since Cooper and that was a long time ago" Rachel said.

"Too long ago" Brooke responded. "You deserve a good guy Rachel, I hope you'll be very happy together."

"Thanks" Rachel looked down. "There is one drawback though."

"Is he married?" Brooke joked.

"No" Rachel stuck her tongue out at Brooke: "he's got a daughter, she's like six years old which is weird because he is our age. Anyway I don't think she likes me..and she's right not to I mean I'm not exactly the motherly type" Rachel said holding up her glass.

"Wait rewind, he's got a six year old daughter?" Brooke couldn't believe it: "No it can't be."

"What?" Rachel replied.

"Is his name Jake? Jake Jagielski?" a wide-eyed Brooke asked Rachel.

"Yeah do you know him?" Rachel replied.

"Oh my god that is so weird..yeah I know him, he used to go to Tree Hill high until he and Jenny had to move away because Jenny's mother kept hazzling them, that was junior year" Brooke didn't think Rachel would go for someone like Jake and vice versa so this was very surprising.

"Oh I didn't know he went to Tree Hill high, he just told me he moved away from Tree Hill a long time ago. I told him I spent my senior year here and he said that he had been gone by then" Rachel said: "Oh give me all the dirt! Who did he date? Did he sleep around? Wait, you haven't slept with him have you?"

Brooke tried to look offended but this was just too funny not to laugh: "No I haven't slept with him, he did sleep with Peyton though. They dated just before he left town."

"Peyton? You have got to be kidding me?" Rachel said raising an eyebrow.

"Nope, they were pretty hot and heavy there for a little while. Why does that surprise you?" Brooke asked.

"I don't know, she just doesn't seem like his type" Rachel said.

Brooke smirked. "Honey you don't seem like his type."

"Whatever" Rachel groaned.

An unattractive man walked up to their table and was about to utter some lame pick-up line when Rachel beat him to the punch and said: "We're not interested. Beat it nerd." The man walked away in disappointment, Brooke couldn't believe what Rachel had just said to the poor guy and was about to comment on it when she remembered that she used to do the same thing, if anything she had been even worse.

" So are you gonna tell me what happened with you and Lucas? He sure isn't talking" Rachel asked.

Brooke was caught off guard: "Um right uhh no I'm not ready to talk about it yet. But I want to know what he sounded like, what did he say?"

"You two are like the biggest drama queens ever to have walked this planet" Rachel smirked: "but I'll tell you what he said. I asked him what you guys did for your birthday and he said that you were in Tree Hill, then I asked him why and he just mumbled something about having to get back to work or whatever. He sounded awful, about as bad as you look right now" Rachel couldn't help but worry.

Brooke suddenly felt nauseous and ran to the restroom. When she got in there she knew she didn't need to vomit, she splashed some cold water on her neck and looked in the mirror. She did look awful and she wanted to go back to Nathan and Haley's to get some sleep. Rachel stepped up behind her and put a hand on her shoulder: "It's gonna be alright" she said looking at Brooke in the mirror. Brooke turned around and fell into Rachel's arms. She was crying. Rachel held her as tight as she could and repeated the words she said before: "it's gonna be alright." She didn't know what else to say.


	4. Another day, another heartache

**Disclaimer:**** I own nothing One Tree Hill related.**

**Author's note:**** Hope you liked the last one. Now on to the fourth chapter. ****Finally some answers as to what happened between BL. Enjoy:)**

**Chapter IV: Another day, another heartache**

An hour after Rachel had dragged her downtown Brooke finally managed to get back into bed. She was so tired she couldn't keep her eyes open a moment longer so she quickly drifted off to sleep. That night she dreamt about Lucas, he took her on a cruise for her birthday and they watched the sunset together every night.

The next morning Nathan and Haley were lying in bed talking about Brooke.

"She just seems so broken, I've never seen her like this" Haley told Nathan as she ran her fingertips up and down his chest.

Nathan grabbed Haley's hand that had been touching him and gave it a small kiss. "I know, this is driving me crazy not knowing what's going on with her and Luke."

Haley sighed. "I guess we'll just have to be patient."

"No way, I'm gonna try to get her to open up today and if she doesn't I'm calling my brother" the younger Scott brother had made up his mind.

"Nathan I don't think that's a good idea, Brooke is going to be pissed if we talk to Lucas. She'll think we're taking his side or something, you know what she's like" Haley replied.

Nathan was about to say something when the bedroom door opened up and Jamie's little head peeked in. When he saw his parents were awake he wasted no time getting in bed between them.

Later that day Nathan asked Brooke to go for a drive with him. She said yes and in a few minutes they were cruising downtown in his jeep.

"So let's hear it" Brooke said turning to Nathan.

He was a little caught off guard. "Uhh what? Hear what?"

"Your little inspiring speech that's gonna make me lose all my defences and tell you the whole sob story of me and Lucas." She was always good at reading people.

"Heh well I want you to tell me but if you are expecting an inspiring speech you got another thing coming." He smiled.

Brooke shifted in her seat. "Okay so you just expect me to spill my guts without an inspiring speech, that's just lame."

Nathan pulled the car over and turned to Brooke. "Look I know that you're going through a lot right now and you say you don't feel like talking about it but why did you come with me on this drive then? You want to talk to someone Brooke, I know you do so why not just talk to me?" he looked her in the eye trying to get through.

"Now that's more like it!" Brooke almost yelled. "I got my speech." She grinned at Nathan.

"Yeah yeah whatever , just start talking. What happened?" Nathan tried to maintain eye contact but she looked out the window.

"Lucas and I have been having problems for a little while now, he started his new job at Random House a couple of months ago and it was just crazy. He always worked late and on the weekends. I tried to give him space, I figured he wanted to make a big impression at first but would eventually slow things down. Then a couple of weeks ago he missed our anniversary dinner." Brooke looked down at her hands, they were trembling. She tried her best to keep it together. "I planned this beautiful dinner for him, I had a cook come over and make his favorite meal. I lit millions of candles and put lots of pictures of us up around the apartment. I bought sexy new lingerie and wore a dress I specifically designed for that night. Everything was perfect, he promised he would be home at eight o'clock….he didn't show up. He didn't call. Nothing. When he finally came home he said he had been stuck in a meeting all night. I couldn't believe it." Tears were running down Brooke's face. She didn't even bother wiping them away, she knew they would just keep on coming.

"Sounds like he got his priorities messed up, you should always come first with him." Nathan tried his best to comfort Brooke but he couldn't think of anything better to say.

Brooke looked up at him: "Yeah and that's what I told him. We got into this huge fight, it was horrible. The worst fight we've ever had."

"And that's when you came here to Tree Hill?" Nathan asked.

"No there's more.." she looked down and a new batch of tears rolled down her cheeks. She tried to talk but no words came out. There was a big lump in her throat that prevented her from speaking. Nathan knew she couldn't handle anymore so he took her in his arms and let her cry. Brooke buried her head in Nathans chest and let it all out. "Damn you Lucas what have you done?" he mumbled.

That night after dinner Haley and Brooke were in the living room wathing a movie, Nathan had offered to clean up in the kitchen but he had a hidden agenda. He was going to call Lucas. He flipped open his phone and dialed Luke's number.

After a minute of ringing it picked up: "Hey you've reached Lucas Scott. Congratulations."

Nathan hung up. "Damn voicemail, I hate that crap. I mean junk."

He was about to put his phone in his back pocket when it rang. Nathan didn't even bother to look at the caller id, he knew who it was.

"Hi" he answered dryly.

"Hey little brother, what's up?" Lucas said on the other end.

Nathan took a seat next to Jamie who was still eating his dinner. "Brooke is here. What the heck happened?" He tried to use nice words around his son.

"Oh she's staying with you guys? I should've guessed. Look Brooke and I are over. It sucks man but there it is." Lucas said.

"What are you talking about? After listening to all that crap, I mean junk, about her being "the one" for you I don't understand this" Nathan said glancing over at Jamie who had his mouth full of spagetti.

"Look Nathan I don't except you to understand this but the fact of the matter is I don't love Brooke anymore. Julianne is the one for me" Lucas stated in a stone cold voice.

"Julianne?! Who is Julianne??" Nathan was about to lose it.

The line went silent for a moment. "Lucas are you still there?!"

"Yeah I'm here. I'm sorry I just assumed Brooke told you.." Lucas said before getting cut off by Nathan yelling: "Told me what?! That you left her for someone else?! That you broke her heart AGAIN?! What the hell is wrong with you??!!"

"Nathan!" Haley was standing in the kitchen staring at Nathan, then she mouthed Jamie's name.

Nathan realized he had been yelling quite loudly and turned to see his son with a frightened look on his face. He told Lucas to wait a minute before picking up Jamie "I'm sorry squirt, daddy's just a little mad at uncle Lucas right now. Do you wanna go with mommy for a minute?" Jamie just nodded as Nathan put him down. Haley took his hand and led him into the living room.

After a minute Nathan picked up his cell phone and said: "Dude what is going on? I thought Brooke was the love of your life? In fact I still think that, I'm sorry but this just sounds like a bunch of b.s."

"I'm sorry too. I never meant to hurt Brooke, if you could just tell her I'm sorry and that…" Lucas couldn't go on any longer without his voice breaking.

"What is really going on Luke? Just tell me. Please. " Nathan pleaded with his brother.

"I can't okay.." Lucas sounded really upset: "I understand if you and Hales need to be there for Brooke right now..I'm moving on with my life with Julianne. Please don't question that." He said almost sobbing.

"Fine" Nathan told his brother and hung up the phone.

He walked to the entrance to the living room and leaned up against the door frame. Haley and Brooke were telling Jamie a story, he seemed to be drifting off to sleep in his mother's arms. Nathan smiled to himself but it wasn't a smile without worry. He worried if Lucas had lost his mind somehow, he couldn't just fall out of love with Brooke like that could he? And who was this Julianne? So many questions needed answers.


	5. My heart is the worst kind of weapon

**Disclaimer: ****I own nothing One Tree Hill related.**

**Author's note:**** Thanks for all the reviews. This chapter is in Peyton's point of view. Hope you like it. **

**Chapter V: My heart is the worst kind of weapon**

**New York city**

A tall, redhaired man wearing a leather jacket approached a waifer-thin girl as she entered club Poison.

"Hey Peyton, you're looking good. How is my favorite client doing?" He smirked at her.

"Hey Carl I'm fine. I'm gonna be needing a lot tonight. Joey's in town." Peyton put her hands in the pockets of her skinny jeans.

"You're still hanging with that loser? You could do a lot better sweetheart." Carl said.

"We're not together, we just hang when he's in town alright? Anyway like I said, I'm gonna need a lot so you better go get ready." Peyton said in a raspy voice, her voice was nothing like it used to be. She walked over to a sofa and took a seat. She looked around at the familiar faces, drug dealers and drug users. All of them she had partied with at least once. Or so she thought. She couldn't be sure because her memory wasn't all that good anymore. At that moment a thin, dark-haired man entered the club, she was happy to see him although that usually meant at least a three-day party rollercoaster. He walked over to her and sat down next to her.

"Hey Peyton, I've missed you. Those L.A. girls can't party half as hard as you." He said smirking.

"Hey Joey, I've missed you too." Peyton forced a smile.

A few minutes later they were warming up with a couple of lines of cocaine that Joey had brought.

"I can't believe how much you can take now, I remember the first few times we did coke together. You could barely do one line" Joey said laughing.

Peyton looked up at him: "Don't remind me."

Then Peyton drifted off into a world of her own. She started thinking about the summer after high school. The summer she and Brooke had spent together in L.A. It was the best summer of her life, they had so much fun together. She missed Luke though and talked to him on the phone every day. Her internship was awesome and finally everything in her life was good. The only problem was that she was away from the man she loved. Until she found Brooke's letters. A huge stack of letters under Brooke's bed was hidden from her and for a good reason. They were all to Lucas, her boyfriend, and they had all been written that summer. She only read a few but they were enough for her to realize that Brooke was still very much in love with Lucas.

**Flashback to four years and three months ago…**

_Peyton was on the floor reading through some of Brooke's letters to Lucas._

_Dear Lucas._

_Last night Peyton and I went to a great concert, Jimmy Eat World and Fall Out Boy were playing, I wish you could have been here with us. It was a lot of fun. Remember the Halloween party at Tric last year? Fall Out Boy was playing and I tricked you into wearing that Tommy Lee costume. That was hilarious:) I played a lot of games back then but It was only because I wanted to make sure your feelings for me were real. Like I told you in my last letter, I made a huge mistake letting you go. If only… there are a lot of if only's when it comes to you and me. If only I hadn't let you go where would we be now? If only you hadn't gotten together with Peyton. If only I had the guts to send you these letters. If only you still loved me like I still love you. But you love Peyton now and she loves you and I'm not gonna mess that up for you guys. I'm not gonna tell her or you how I feel, I'm gonna bury it. Bury you so deep inside my heart that hopefully one day I'll forget that you're in there._

_Love, your pretty girl._

_Tears swelled in Peyton's eyes as she read through the letters. She couldn't believe it, Brooke was still in love with Lucas. How did everything get so messed up?_

_A minute later the bedroom door was opened. Brooke stepped inside._

_"Hey P.Sawyer what are you doing on the floor?" she asked._

_Peyton slowly turned around to face her best friend. She saw the fear in Brooke's eyes as she saw t__he letters on the floor and in Peyton's hands. She managed to stand up and walk a little bit closer to Brooke._

_"You still love him?" Peyton asked in a calm, controlled manner. She didn't want to get into a screaming match, at least not right away._

_Brooke looked down at the floor for a moment and then looked Peyton in the eye. "Yes." She whispered it so softly that it was barely a sound._

_"God Brooke, why? I thought this crap was over!" Peyton raised her voice a little._

_"So did I …I didn't want you to find out. I was gonna bury it like you should have done when Lucas and I were together." Brooke regretted those last words the moment they came out._

_Peyton was getting angry: "Like I should have done?! I thought we were past that!"_

_"We are __past it __okay? You're my best friend and I love you, please lets just forget this." Brooke pleaded._

_Peyton turned away and paced the floor for a moment: "No. I can't pretend like I didn't find a bunch of loveletters to my boyfriend hidden under your bed! What about Chase?__" _

_"I care about Chase, I do but I was only with him to escape my feelings for Lucas. I thought that if I just started dating other guys that I would get over him eventually but when he showed me what he had written about me in his book I realized t__hat I would never get over him. That night before we left for L.A. I decided that I would bury it. All of it..mostly because you and I were finally back on track. I'm so sorry." Brooke said._

_"__I need to clear my head." Peyton__ said, grabbing her key__s and walking out the door. She drove down to the beach and __stopped the car. She thought about Lucas and how much he meant to her, she wasn't going to let him go. She wasn't going to lose him, she reached for the __radio and turned it on. __'__Somebody's crying__'__ by Chris Isaak was playing._

_I know somebody and they cry for you. _

_They lie awake at night and dream of you._

_I bet you never even know they do, but somebody's crying._

_I know somebody and they called your name._

_A million times and still you never came._

_They go on loving you just the same, I know that somebody's trying._

_She picked up her cell phone and dialed Luke's number. _

_"Hey babe, what's up?" Lucas said on the other end._

_"Hi, what are you doing?" Peyton __whimpered. She tried as hard as she could to sound normal._

_"I'm with Whitey, we're going over the players' stats. He says hi by the way." Lucas said._

_"Tell him hi back..Look Luke can you come to L.A.? I know we planned for you to fly out in a couple of weeks but I need you here now." Peyton said._

_"Why? Is something wrong?" He sounded worried._

_"No no I just need you here. Please come." She pleaded._

_"Okay I'll fly out first thing in the morning. Are you sure everything is okay?" Lucas said._

_"We'll talk when you get here. I'll pick you up tomorrow okay?" Peyton said._

_"Sure babe. I gotta go now, Whitey is giving me a strange look. Love you." Lucas said._

_"Love you too. Bye." Peyton said as she hung up the phone._

_"We are going to get all of this out in the open once and for all." She said to herself._

_The next morning as Brooke got out of the shower Peyton told her she was leaving for about an hour. She told her to stay there because she wanted to talk when they got back. She didn't want to tell Brooke that Lucas was coming, she was afraid that she might not want to face him. _

_When Peyton arrived at LAX it was crowded as usual, there was n__o sign of Luke so she picked up her cell to call him__At the__ exact__ same moment Luke materialized from the __crowd __and walked up to his girlfriend. Peyton was happy to see him but Brooke's feelings were swirling in the back of her head. This is how Brooke must have felt after she told her she loved Lucas__ a few months ago__. She kissed him and took his hand._

_"I've missed you" Lucas said as he pulled out of the kiss._

_"I've missed you too. More than you know" Peyton said smiling._

_"What Brooke hasn't kept you busy?" Lucas said with a small snicker._

_Peyton's smile was gone in an instant: "Look let's get back to the apartment, Brooke is there waiting for us. We have a lot to talk about."_

_"Okay. Lead the way." Lucas said._

_The drive back was hard for Peyton, she couldn't help but wonder if Lucas' feelings for Brooke were still in there somewhere. No it wasn't possible. His heart belonged to her now.__ Or so she hoped_

_A few minutes later Peyton and Lucas walked into the apartment. Brooke was sitting on her bed, painting her toenails with a gorgeus red polish._

_"Hey." Peyton said to her._

_Brooke looked up to see her ex-boyfriend standing there along with his current girlfriend, her best friend. "How did everything get so twisted" She thought._

_"Hey. Luke what are you doing here?" Brooke said._

_Peyton cut in before Lucas could answer: "He's here because we need to talk. All of us."_

_"You told him?" Brooke asked._

_"No, but you're going to tell him. We're gonna get everything out in the open. My feelings. Your feelings and his feelings."__ Peyton said with an icy stare_

_"Okay what is __going on here? Tell me what?"Lucas said looking__ at both girls._

_Neither one of them said anything. Brooke just kept painting her toenails and Peyton kept staring at her. Luke took of his jacket and sat down in a chair next to Brooke's bed._

_"Tell him." Peyton repeated._

_Brooke looked up at her.__ "What's the point? It's not gonna do any good." _

_"Tell him or I will." Peyton said._

_Brooke stopped painting her nails.__"Fine. Tell him but just remember that I didn't want to."_

_Lucas couldn't take it anymore. "Tell me what?!" He asked them both._

_Peyton turned to Lucas. "I came home from work yesterday and Brooke wasn't here, I dropped an earring on the floor and I couldn't find it so I got down on my hands and knees and looked under everything. Including Brooke's bed, I didn't find the earring but I did find a box with a stack of letters in it addressed to you." _

_"What?" Lucas was clearly confused._

_"Yeah. Love letters! A stack of them! T__o you!" Peyton repeated._

_Brooke had had enough. She got off the bed and was about to walk out when Peyton stepped in front of her._

_"You're in my way" she said to Peyton. _

_"You're not leaving until we've talked this out" Peyton said glaring at Brooke._

_"Fine." Brooke said turning to Lucas. "I still love you. I never stopped loving you. I don't want to break up your relationship. I was going to bury this but unfortunately Peyton found my letters to you but I swear they were never meant to be seen. I was never going to send them.__ I was never going to say anything because it hurt me so much when Peyton told me about her feelings for you.__ I'm sorry. I'm so sorry." The__ last few words came out muffled. Brooke ran out of the apartment. Lucas stood up and was going to go after her but Peyton stopped him._

_"Stop!__ Please don't go after her__!" Peyton scream__ed grabbing__ a hold of__ his arm._

_"I have to know everything!" Lucas yelled back and tried to shake his arm free._

_"No Lucas please stay with me. I'll tell you everything you need to know." Peyton said with tears swelling in her eyes._

_"Okay what did she mean by that?" Lucas said._

_"By what__?" Peyton replied._

_"That you hurt her when you told her about you__r feelings for me. When did you tell her? B__efore you told me?" __Lucas said staring into Peyton's eyes._

_"I told her the night before Nathan and Haley'__s wedding. __I had just come back from Savannah and Jake told me that I had said 'I love you Lucas' in my sleep. I thought he was just crazy but that night when I came back and I saw you I realized that I did love you. I love you still. I'll never stop loving you Lucas." She leaned in to kiss him __but he pulled back._

_"Peyton I can't believe you never told me th__at! __I can't believe Brooke didn'__t tell me!__" Lucas sighed and walked over to a window and looked outside._

_Peyton walked up behind him and laid a hand on his shoulder.__"__You never asked me. And I thought Brooke would tell you but I guess she wanted to give me a chance to tell you myself. What does this even matter Lucas? It's all in the past."_

_Lucas turned around and grabbed her upper arms: "But it's not in the past is it? Brooke is still in love with me and I don't know what to do."_

_"What do you mean you don't know what to do? You don't still have feelings for her do you?" Peyton said to her boyfriend._

_Lucas looked down and then into Peyton's eyes: "Of course I still have feelings for her. She's Brooke you know? I thought she was the love of my life and then suddenly it was over and I thought it was my fault for not telling her about our kiss..then it turns out that she knew about your feelings. I've gotta talk to her, I need to know why she ended our relationship." He said __heading for the door._

_"Lucas wait!" Peyton yelled at him but he didn't stop. He went af__ter Brooke and Peyton was alone...__again._

"Peyton! Peyton! Are you okay?!"

Peyton was rudely awakened by someone shouting her name.

"I'm fine. Who is it?" Peyton mumbled.

"It's Joey, open your eyes babe." Joey said.

Peyton opened her eyes. She was still in the club. "I'm sorry Joey, I just completely drifted off."

"It's fine babe, here have another line" he said handing her a rolled up dollar bill.

Peyton eyed the dollar for a second and then took it. "Sure."


	6. Survivor

**Disclaimer:**** I own nothing at all One Tree Hill related.**

**Author's note:**** Hey guys thanks for all the lovely reviews. Here is a brand new chapter. Enjoy!**

**Chapter VI: ****Survivor**

****

A few days had passed. Brooke was trying to get some design ideas down on paper but she wasn't having much luck. All she could think about was Lucas. She was feeling a little better so she decided to write him a letter, she knew that she wouldn't be able to say half of the things she wanted to say to him if she saw him face to face. She had only written a couple of lines when the home phone rang, Nathan and Haley were both at work and Jamie was in kindergarten so she picked it up.

"Scott residence" she said as she picked up the phone.

"Hey Brooke it's Haley. Look I'm gonna be a little late today so I was wondering if you could pick up Jamie. Nathan isn't answering his phone, I left him a voicemail but I don't know when he's gonna check that so could you do it?" Haley said on the other end, it sounded like she was running a marathon.

"Uhh sure I'd love to do it, I'm actually really bored so.." Brooke responded.

"Great! Okay bye" Haley exclaimed before hanging up.

Brooke sighed as she continued writing the letter. After she was finished she checked her watch, it was nearly time to pick up Jamie so she wrapped up her letter and put it in an envelope. A few minutes later she was at Jamie's kindergarten.

"Hey I'm here to pick up James Scott" she said to a middle-aged woman.

The woman turned around and looked at Brooke with a disapproving glare. "And who are you?" she said.

"Oh sorry I'm Brooke Davis, Jamie's godmother. And you are?" Brooke said while taking off her sunglasses.

"Susan Riley. Jamie's teacher. His mother didn't say anything about you picking him up when she dropped him off this morning." Susan said glaring at Brooke.

Brooke was getting annoyed with this old hag. "That's because she didn't know, she called me a little while ago and asked me to pick him up because she's stuck at work."

"Fine." Susan replied and called Jamie's name.

Jamie came out running with a drawing. "Aunt Brooke what are you doing here?" he said with a smile on his face.

"Hey tigger, mommy couldn't pick you up right now so she called me. We are going to do something really fun together okay?" Brooke said smiling at her godson.

Susan snorted and then walked into another room.

Brooke rolled her eyes when she left the room and picked up Jamie's bag, then she took his hand and led him out to the car.

They drove around for a bit and then Brooke bought Jamie an ice cream. The letter was in her purse. She drove past a couple of mailboxes before finally stopping at one and pulling out the letter. She looked at it and wondered whether she should mail it or not.

She looked at Jamie in the backseat. "What do you think? Should I mail it or not?" she asked him.

"Who is it to?" he said with chocolate chip ice cream all over his face.

Brooke sighed. "It's to your uncle Lucas. I don't know if I should send it because it might make him sad."

"Don't send it, I don't want uncle Luke to be sad" Jamie said while licking his fast melting ice cream.

"I know you don't sweetie.." Brooke looked at the letter still conflicted. Then her cell phone rang. It was Nathan.

"Hi Nate, what's up?" Brooke said the moment she answered.

"Actually it's Haley, we're both at home now so you can bring Jamie home" Haley blurted out in one breath.

"Uhm okay..sure we'll be home soon" Brooke said grinning.

"I wonder what your parents were doing?" Brooke said with a small laugh.

"I don't know" Jamie said barely getting the words out because he was so busy licking his ice cream.

Brooke wanted to give Nathan and Haley some alone time so she brought Jamie home after half an hour. The pair walked into the house and noticed there was no sign of Nathan and Haley. A little thump came from the bedroom followed with some laughing. Jamie wandered into the living room so Brooke walked up to the bedroom door and swung the door open. "GOTCHA!" Brooke yelled.

Nathan was lying on the floor with boxers on and pants half way up his thighs, he was laughing so hard that he couldn't get them on. Haley was on the bed wearing a bra and panties trying to get a tank top on but was also laughing so hard that she couldn't.

"Well well what do we have here?" Brooke said raising an eyebrow.

By this point Haley had laughed so hard that she had tears in her eyes: "Oh my god Brooke we're sooo sorry" she said followed with some more laughing. Nathan got up from the floor and buttoned his pants. Then he put on a t-shirt, the whole time smirking like an idiot.

"We were just having some fun. Thanks for picking up Jamie" he said while walking past Brooke.

Brooke looked at Haley who had managed to get her tank top on and was now looking for her pants. "You know if you guys need some alone time you can always ask me to babysit, it's really no bother." Brooke said plopping herself on the bed.

Haley sat down next to her. "Thanks but we didn't plan this or anything. I was stuck at work for real and then Nathan just surprised me at my office. When we got home you had already gone to get Jamie so we just thought we'd have a little fun." Haley couldn't help but smile a little.

"Haley James-Scott you dirty girl!" Brooke said hitting Haley on the shoulder. "Well I'm happy you're happy."

"Thanks tigger, but I would be a lot happier if you were happy too." Haley said.

"I'll get there, I just need to get over Lucas. I don't know how to do it though." Brooke said while looking down. She couldn't think of any way to get over the love of her life.

"I think you need closure. You need to tell him exactly how you feel and how much he hurt you in order to have some closure. Without that you'll never get over him." Haley half-whispered.

"Yeah maybe you're right..I also need my stuff from our apartment. God I still can't believe that he left me for another woman. I mean sure he had been distant for a while but the thought he might be falling for someone else never entered my mind" Brooke said. She thought about the letter, should she send it to him?

Haley gave Brooke a quick hug: "It's gonna be okay, Nathan and I will help you every step of the way alright?"

"Thanks tutor-girl." Brooke said to her best friend.

A yell came from the living room : "Why is my son covered in ice cream?!"

------------------------------------------------

**Author's note:**** So this chapter was kinda uneventful but I promise the next one will be big:)**


	7. Lovestoned I think she knows

**Disclaimer:**** I own nothing related to One Tree Hill.**

**Author's note:**** Thanks for the reviews:) Everybody get ready for some Naley action and Brucas drama! **

**Chapter VII: Lovestoned/I think she knows**

Haley was up early on a Sunday morning making cupcakes, everybody else in the house were sleeping so she sang to herself as she baked. Halfway into it Brooke walked into the kitchen.

"Good morning tutorgirl. What are you making?" Brooke said while sitting down on a stool, she tried to get a finger into the dough to taste it.

Haley slapped her hand. "Hey get off that! And good morning to you too. I'm making cupcakes." She said smiling.

"Ohhh I love cupcakes! When are they gonna be ready?? Can I lick the spoon?" A wide-eyed Brooke asked Haley.

Haley looked at the spoon in her hand. "No you can't lick it and they'll be ready soon. God you're worse than Jamie when it come to dough-licking."

Brooke made a little whiny noise and then got off the stool and walked around the counter to Haley. "Look I gotta talk to you about something. I'm gonna fly to New York tomorrow." Brooke said.

Haley was a little surprised. "Uhh okay, why?"

Brooke waved her hands in typical Brooke-fashion while explaining: "The company really needs me in person, at least for a few days. I mean the internet and the phone only go so far you know? They need to know I'm still their CEO and that I've started working on the fall collection, it's only for a few days though. I'll be back before you know it."

Haley nodded. "Sure I understand…are you gonna see Lucas while you're there? She asked.

Brooke looked away from Haley's glare.

"Well are you?" Haley repeated.

"I don't know, I really need to get some stuff from our apartment but I don't think I have the strength to face him. What should I do? Just wait till' he leaves for work?" Brooke asked her best friend.

Haley laughed a little and then looked at Brooke with her big, brown eyes. "Oh Brooke…you are the strongest girl I know. But I also know how much Lucas hurt you and what kind of effect he can have on you. You've really come a long way in the past couple of weeks and I'm afraid that if you see him you're just gonna fall apart again." Haley sighed and then placed her hands on Brooke's shoulders. "I think the best thing for you is to stay away but if you really need to go to his apartment take someone with you. Someone to stand between you two. Like a buffer you know?"

"A buffer…now who would make a good buffer?" Brooke thought for a moment and then looked at Haley. They both said in unison: "Rachel."

The next day Brooke was at Tree Hill airport saying goodbye to Nathan, Haley and Jamie. Nathan was holding Jamie in his arms who was crying. Haley and Brooke were hugging, Haley said to Brooke that she needed to be careful. Brooke agreed and then pulled out of the hug. She took a step forward to Nathan and Jamie and asked Jamie if she could say goodbye to him.

Jamie shook his head. "No I'm not gonna say goodbye. If I don't say goodbye then you can't leave."

Brooke smiled. She had no idea Jamie had become so attached to her. She leaned in to give him a little kiss on the forhead and then she said to him: "I love you and don't you worry, I'll be back before you know it." Jamie reached out his little arms for a hug and Brooke didn't wait one moment before hugging him tight. After for seemed like an eternity Jamie finally let go so she was free to say goodbye to Nathan. He put his one free arm around her, since the other one was occupied holding Jamie, and whispered so that his son couldn't hear: "I wish I could come with you to protect you from my idiot brother and kick his ass too but this is one battle you have to fight on your own. I get that."

"Thank you Nate." Brooke said smiling but only to keep the tears away. She picked up her suitcase and walked a few steps before turning back and looking at the happy Scott family. A dream she once had for herself and Lucas. All her dreams of having a family died when their relationship ended but she was determined to move on. She turned back to the gate and kept on walking till' she was in her plane seat.

A couple of days later Brooke was in her office at Clothes over bro's inc. hard at work. She had spent the last two days convincing everyone that she was still dedicated to the company, she wasn't going to let moping over Lucas cost her everything.

"Good morning Ms. Davis." Millicent, Brooke's P.A. had entered the office. " Here is your latte and the sales figures for the last month." She said handing Brooke a cup and a file. Millicent was a tall, slender girl with dark hair that was always up in a bun. She wore black wire rimmed glasses and very little make-up which Brooke was constantly trying to change.

"Thanks Milly." Brooke said. "You may go, I'll buzz you if I need anything else. Oh and it's Brooke." Millicent smiled and then left the office and Brooke took a sip of her latte while opening up the sales report. She gulped when she saw the figures for the last two weeks, sales in all departments had taken a nose dive right around the time she and Lucas broke up. She worried that her absence from the company had caused this so she buzzed Millicent in.

"Yes Ms. Davis? I mean Brooke?" Millicent said entering the office.

Brooke held up, the sales report in front of Millicent. "Is this because of my leave of absence? Why didn't you tell me things were so bad?" Brooke said to her assistant.

Millicent sat down in a chair on the opposite of Brooke's desk. "Things have been very much under control. All the department heads have been hard at work and you have been very easy to reach so things haven't been bad. The only thing I can think of to have caused this is….." Millicent said hesitantly.

"Is what?" Brooke said glaring at Millicent.

"Well your personal life." She said looking down. "You've been on the front page of every tabloid in the city, country even. You and Mr. Scott."

Brooke's jaw dropped to the floor. "What…What have they been saying?" She said.

"At first they were just reporting that you had broken up but then when you and he refused to give statements they moved on to speculations about why you guys broke up. " Millicent said.

Brooke stood up and paced the floor, she looked out the window and suddenly she felt dizzy, like she was about to faint.

"Are you alright Ms. Davis? I didn't mean to upset you." Millicent said.

Brooke stopped pacing and looked at her: "I'm fine, I just need some water. And how many times do I have to tell you to call me Brooke?"

Millicent left the office for a minute and then came back with some water. "Here you are" she said handing Brooke the glass.

Brooke gulped down the glass of water in one sip and then sat down to face Millicent. "Okay, first things first. Why haven't I heard of this until now? Why didn't you let me know the press were trying to contact me?" Brooke said looking hard into Millicent's eyes.

"I just knew that you were going trough a lot and I didn't want the press to bother you. I told them no comment and I hoped they would just move on but they didn't. The stories just got wilder. I'm sorry." Millicent said.

"It's okay…It's not your fault. So what have they been saying?" Brooke said.

Millicent just looked at her until Brooke said: "It's okay, I can handle it. Tell me."

"At first it was just speculation about why you guys broke up but for the last few days it's gotten ugly. They're claming Mr. Scott was sleeping with prostitutes, hanging out with drug lords and loan sharks. You don't know how hard I've worked making sure you didn't see a paper or a magazine laying around, but now you know so you can handle it any way you want. If you want to ignore it or issue a statement, whatever you want, I'll help you." Millicent said in a concerned voice.

They sat there in silence for a moment. Brooke was stunned. "That's not true! How can they print such lies?! She said shifting in her seat. "I want to make a statement."

"Okay I'll type it up for you" Millicent said smiling. She looked like she was happy with Brooke's decision.

"No Milly I want to _make _a statement, call a press conference" Brooke said.

"I can do that." Millicent smiled nervously and left the office.

Brooke turned her chair around and looked outside the windows from her office. The view of New York city was breathtaking, she wanted the people in this city to know the truth.

Meanwhile back in Tree Hill. Nathan was at his office working on strategies for the Ravens. They had a big game coming up and they were not going to lose.

"Hey coach, can I have a word?" One of Raven's basketball players was at the door.

"Sure Mike, come on in. Take a seat." Nathan said to him.

Mike sat down across from Nathan. "You said that whenever we have a problem, we can talk to you about it."

Nathan nodded.

"Uhh okay so I'm really nervous about the game on Friday. I just can't stop thinking about it and I don't know how to stop. Even for a little bit, I'm having trouble sleeping because of it. What do you think I should do?" Mike asked.

Nathan looked at the photo of Haley on his desk. She looked gorgeus in it. "Mike have you got a girlfriend?"

"Yes sir." Mike replied.

"Do you love her?" Nathan said.

"Very much sir."Mike said with a little smile.

"Then go be with her. She'll take your mind of the game. I guarantee it." Nathan said smirking.

Mike smiled. "Yeah. Yeah of course. Stacy will help me.."

Mike got up from the chair and thanked Nathan. Then he left his office.

"No problem" he said smirking to himself. He looked at the picture of Haley again. She did look amazing in it. He picked up the phone on his desk and dialed.

"Hello" a woman on the other end said.

"Hey mom, would you mind taking care of Jamie tonight?" Nathan asked his mom.

"Sure honey, what's up?" Deb asked.

"Uhh well the big game is on Friday and I just need to relax, relieve some stress." Nathan said smirking.

"Say no more. I will pick him up around seven okay?" Deb said.

"Sounds good. See'ya." He said and then hung up the phone.

On his way to pick up Jamie he stopped by a Walmart and bought some strawberries along with chocolate. Then he picked up Jamie and went home. An hour later he and Jamie were shooting hoops in the driveway when Haley's car pulled up. She stepped out of the car and looked at her husband and son.

"Hey how are my boys doing?" She said walking over to them.

Nathan dunked the basketball and then looked at his wife approaching. She was wearing a black and grey striped skirt that flowed down to her knees and a cream colored haltertop. Nathan wiped the sweat off his brow with his hand and waited for her to come up to him.

"Hi honey. You look good with all this sweat" she said to him.

His heart started beating faster. "Hi..Well you look good with…anything." He smirked.

"Thanks." Haley smiled.

Nathan placed his hand on her cheek and kissed her lips lightly.

"Eew gross!" Jamie shrieked.

Nathan and Haley both chuckled at their sons reaction. Then Nathan looked longingly into Haley's eyes. She knew what that look meant. "Shall we take this inside?" Nathan asked Haley.

"Honey no, Jamie is right here. Maybe tonight after he's asleep." Haley replied.

"Mom is picking him up" Nathan said grinning.

"Oh when?" Haley said tugging his jersey to pull him closer.

"Right now." Nathan was barely able to say. He had only one thing on his mind and it was hard for him to concentrate on anything else.

A moment later Deb pulled up in the driveway and Jamie ran screaming "Grandma!" down to her car.

Haley followed him and gave him a kiss goodbye before Deb strapped him in the car.

"You kids have fun now." She said with a wink before driving away.

Haley laughed a little and then she felt Nathan's strong arms surround her. He stood behind her and wrapped them around her. "Finally I have you all to myself." He said. Then he started to kiss her neck.

"Nathan, not out here…the neighbours…" Haley couldn't say anything else because of her moaning with pleasure.

"You're so hot, I have to have you now." He whispered in her ear and then nibbled on her earlobe.

Haley turned around in his arms and put her hands on his neck, she met his gaze for a split second before pulling him into a passionate kiss. He let his hands trace the small of her back, he knew that it turned her on. After a minute they came up for air. They looked at each other and smiled. They didn't even notice Mrs. Abernathy next door who was ogling them. Nathan took Haley's hand and almost dragged her into the house, the moment the door was closed they locked lips again but this time they were ripping each other's clothes off. Haley pulled Nathan's jersey off in one swift movement, meanwhile Nathan was working on Haley's skirt. He couldn't find a zipper or a button anywhere, then Haley told him that there weren't any and the skirt was off faster than Nathan's heartbeat. Somehow, but not without a few stumbles, they had made their way into the bedroom and Haley was going to let herself fall on to the bed, unfortunately it was so dark in there that she fell on the floor taking Nathan with her. They burst out laughing but it didn't last long as Nathan's lips found Haley's. Haley ran her hands down Nathan's back and felt the sweat he had worked up playing basketball, she went further and grabbed a hold of his boxers pulling them down, he was hard. Nathan had already taken off Haley's bra so he kissed his way down to her chest. He sucked her nipples causing Haley to moan, he loved giving her pleasure so her moans were like a reward for him. His right hand traced her stomach right down to her pantyline, Haley started to breathe heavier and then after a moment of teasing her he slid his hand down into her panties. She was wet, he was hard. They were both ready. He glided her panties off and then got on top of her. He slid inside of her and started thrusting his hips against hers. Haley dug her fingernails into Nathan's back causing him to groan with satisfaction. Then after a minute he started going faster and faster which made Haley moan louder and louder. She was almost screaming with pleasure, she called out Nathan's name over and over until they both came.

A few minutes later they had recovered and Nathan was spooning Haley.

"That was amazing." Haley muttered.

"I know…that was hot." Nathan replied.

Haley couldn't stop smiling and Nathan noticed that. "I'm sorry." He said kissing her shoulder.

"Sorry about what?" She said.

"This isn't what I planned. I bought strawberries and chocolate, I was going to melt the chocolate on to the strawberries and then put on some Barry White to set the mood.."Nathan was cut off by Haley chuckling.

"What?" He asked her.

"Barry White?" Haley asked with a big grin.

"Yeah what is wrong with that? His music is very sexy, it sets the mood." Nathan said.

"Sure, if that's your story." She said laughing.

"I'm serious!" Nathan exclaimed. "Okay I also didn't plan on being dripping with sweat so I'm sorry about that."

"Hey don't be, I find it very sexy." Haley said while rubbing Nathan's arm. "You can't plan passion you know? I just overtakes us sometimes and that's always a good thing."

"I know." He said and then started to kiss her neck again.

"Don't do that, I'm not quite ready for round 2." Haley said jokingly.

"Oh I am." Nathan groaned in her ear.

Haley turned in his arms to face him. "Why don't you take a shower and I will make us those chocolate strawberries." She said kissing his neck, up to his face and ending with his lips.

Nathan pulled away. "Okay." He whispered. Then he let his forehead fall on to Haley's forehead.

"Are you sure you don't want to join me in the shower?" He asked his wife.

"I don't think so." Haley replied.

Nathan gave Haley one last kiss and then got up and walked over to the bathroom. Haley listened to him turn on the shower and then she got up, put on Nathan's jersey and walked in to the kitchen. She opened the fridge and took out the treats Nathan had bought for them. She melted the chocolate in the microwave and then poured it over the strawberries. When she was finished she got back in to the bedroom but this time she got in to bed, she put the strawberries on the nightstand and listened for Nathan to get out of the shower.

"Haley!" A yell coming from the bathroom said.

"What!?" She yelled back.

"Come here, I want to show you something!" He yelled.

"Okay I'm coming" She said getting up and walking over to the bathroom.

When she opened the door to the bathroom Nathan was standing in the shower buck-naked. Haley couldn't help but stare, she had married the hottest guy in all of the world. And there he was in front of her, wet and naked.

"Hey are you joining me or what? Last chance." Nathan said smirking.

"What the hell was I thinking saying no in the first place?" She thought to herself. She went back in to the bedroom and grabbed a couple of strawberries. Then she took off the jersey and got in the shower with her husband.

Back in New York the press room at Clothes over bro's headquarters was filled with every newshound in town. Brooke was in the back room changing. "What do you think Milly?" she said while looking at herself in a mirror. She was wearing a black pencil skirt and a gorgeus white, silk blouse. After Millicent had given her the thumbs up she slicked on red lip gloss and headed for the press room. Camera flashes started popping like crazy and allt the reporters yelled Brooke's name when she entered the room.

"Settle down, settle down please" she pleaded to the reporters. "I will make a statement and then afterwards I'll take a few questions."

The room settled quickly so Brooke was able to begin. "Thank you all for being here today. I would like to confirm the reports of the split between me and Lucas Scott. We parted ways about two weeks ago, it was a difficult but amicable decision that we made together." Brooke said in her most professional voice. "Now about the stories you have been printing in the last few days about the reasons behind our split. They are not true, not even close to the truth. You don't have any proof behind those allegations so expect a lawsuit if you don't stop printing them. That is all, thank you." Brooke concluded.

The reports all started raising their hands and snapping photos again. They wanted to ask her questions. Brooke pointed to a tall, balding man and asked him what his question was.

"Ms. Davis. I would like to know how this split has affected your company? I've been hearing rumours about a drop in sales." He said with a smug grin on his face.

"Those rumours are not true, and if they were, it would be your fault for printing lies about us." Brooke glared at him. She picked another reporter. A nice looking, short woman with big glasses.

"Ms. Davis can you tell us the real reason you and Mr. Scott broke up?" She said holding out her microphone.

"No. That's private." Brooke said into the mic.

"I heard that you had broken up before when you dated in high school. Apparently he slept with your best friend or something like that. Does that have anything to do with this break-up?" The woman continued thrusting her mic in Brooke's face.

"No, that's not what happened…" Brooke started to say but she couldn't continue. She felt dizzy, all the lights on her were making her hot and the silk blouse was not helping. How did this woman find out about their high school relationship? How did she find out about Peyton? Brooke was feeling like she was about to faint any minute. She had to get out of there. "No further questions." She said before hurrying out of the room, she went to her office and sat down in her chair. She put her head between her legs to try and get rid of the dizziness.

Back in the press room, Millicent thanked the reporters. She sighed, this was finally over. She had been dreading this press conference all day, she was afraid Brooke might fall apart at any second. Thankfully her boss did good. Millicent was just about to leave when she noticed a tall, blondish guy lurking in the back of the room trying to get out. He didn't have a camera or a mic or anything. It couldn't be him, could it?

A few minutes later Millicent found Brooke in her office with her head between her legs. "Hey Ms. Davis, I mean Brooke, you did good."

Brooke raised her head up. "You think so Milly? I don't know."

"You did, trust me. Anyway guess who was at the press conference?" Millicent said smiling.

"Oprah?" Brooke joked.

Milly laughed a little. "Nope, your ex. He was hiding at the back. "

"Lucas was there?" Brooke's eyes lit up for just a split second but then the light was gone. "I miss him." She said sighing.

"I'm sorry." Milly said to her boss.

"It's okay. I have to learn to live without him, but I can't do that until I get my stuff. I'm calling my buffer." Brooke said picking up the phone.

Millicent gave Brooke a strange look.

"Don't ask." Brooke said to Milly. "Hey ho what are you up to?" she said into the phone.


	8. Where do we go from here

**Disclaimer: ****I own nothing One Tree Hill related.**

**Author's note:**** It's been a while since I updated. I'm sorry for taking so long but I've been studying hard for my final exams. Hope you guys haven't forgotten everything but just in case I will write a little recap from the last chapter.**

**P.S. I love reading your reviews so thanks for them:)**

**Previously on **_**You want to make a memory:**_** Brooke held a press conference at Clothes over bros'**** to deny the false rumours going around about the breakup of her and Lucas. Brooke handled herself well and Milly noticed Lucas in the back of the room. After the conference Milly told Brooke about Lucas being in the room and Brooke decided to call Rachel to help her get the stuff she needed from her apartment...**

**Chapter VIII: Where do we go from here**

Brooke was in a taxi heading down 6th avenue to pick up Rachel, she had agreed to be her buffer and Brooke was extremely grateful.

"Hiiii!" Rachel almost yelled as she got in the taxi.

"You're chipper" Brooke said smiling at her, then she gave the taxi-driver the next address.

"Well of course I am. Finally I can give that whoring ex-boyfriend of yours a piece of my mind" Rachel exclaimed.

Brooke sighed. "Look Rach, I really appreciate you being here for me but I really don't want to get into it with Lucas and that means you have to behave yourself."

"Oh come on..can't I just throw him a few insults? You gotta give me that at least" Rachel begged.

Brooke laughed a little and then agreed to let Rachel have a few jabs at Lucas.

"We're here" Rachel said looking out the cab window.

Brooke handed the driver a wad of cash and then the two girls stepped out of the cab and on to the curb.

"Wow nice fur coat" Brooke said to Rachel, she hadn't noticed it in all the haste.

"Thanks. It's a gift from this guy I used to date" Rachel smirked.

"Of course it is" Brooke said in a cynical tone. "Well we should get up there."

Rachel nodded and the girls headed inside. Once they had made it up to the 15th floor Brooke had second thoughts. "I don't know if I should be doing this, I mean cathing him off guard like this" she half-whispered. She didn't want Lucas to hear her.

"You have got to be frickin' kidding me? It's like two more steps and we're in there, are you really gonna chicken out now???" Rachel whispered back heatedly.

"This is why I brought you" Brooke smiled at Rachel and then gave her a quick hug.

Rachel was a bit surprised but hugged her back: "Okay now lets get in there!"

Brooke was all set to go but then a thought entered her mind, she grabbed Rachel's arm: "Rachel wait."

"What now???" Rachel said very annoyed, she wasn't the most patient person in the world.

"What if she's in there?" Brooke murmured.

"Who?" Rachel said without thinking and then quickly realized: "Oh _her_…well I say it's time you faced her. I mean how bad can it be? There's no way she's hotter then you or more successful."

Brooke looked down at the carpeted floors. "She has Lucas."

"So?" Rachel said.

"So she wins, no matter what she looks like or how successful she is…she wins" Brooke said still looking down.

Rachel placed her index finger under Brooke's chin and lifted her face up to meet hers. "Let's get one thing straight. Having Lucas is not winning. This man-stealing-slut is not better then you in any way, you got that?" she said looking firmly into Brooke's eyes.

Brooke nodded nervously. Then Rachel let go of her chin and grabbed her arm. They faced the door to the apartment together as Brooke rang the buzzer. No answer. She knocked but there was still no answer. Then Brooke got out her key and opened the door, it seemed like Lucas wasn't home. She walked over to his desk, it was covered in papers and junk from his office. There was also a big blue picture frame on his desk which had a photo of Brooke and Lily in it. She picked it up, why was this still here? Julianne would not approve of this she scoffed. She put it back on the desk face down.

"Look what we have here! The slut's slutty panties!" Rachel said holding up a a pair of red hotpants.

Brooke turned around and her eyes widened. "Those are mine!" She said as she grabbed them from Rachel's hand.

Rachel snickered a little and then made her way over to the bathroom: "I gotta pee" she said before closing the door.

"Fine" Brooke muttered under her breath. She began gathering her stuff into a cardboard box but then she felt something nudging up against her foot, it was Brucas. She knelt down to give him a hug and call him a good boy. He seemed happy to see her.

"Brooke? Is that you?" a drowsy voice behind her said.

She turned around. There he was, standing in the doorway to the bedroom. Lucas Scott. The man she thought she'd spend the rest of her life with, the only man that had ever been in her heart, her soul, her spirit.

"Yeah it's me, I'm just getting some stuff. I rang the buzzer and knocked but there was no answer..." she said pointing towards the door.

Lucas ran a hand through his hair: "I was asleep, sorry" he said in a groggy voice.

"It's fine…" Brooke said before continuing with the box.

Lucas walked over to the kitchen and started to make some coffee. When the coffee maker was switched on he turned to Brooke and watched her gather her stuff. It killed him inside, not being able to tell her the truth, but this was for the best.

"So I heard about your press conference, I'm sorry you had to resort to that" he said while folding his arms.

"Don't be. I didn't do it for you, I did it for the good of the company" she said not looking away from the box of stuff.

"I know, but it must have been hard for you" he said.

"I know you were there. Milly saw you" Brooke said turning to him.

"Yeah I was there, I just wanted to be there for you in case things got ugly. I didn't want you to have to stick up for me by yourself but you handled it so well that I didn't feel the need to say anything" he said before turning to the coffee maker and pouring himself a cup.

"Stick up for me? I told you, this wasn't about you!" Brooke was getting a little angry. She put her hands on her hips for emphasis.

"I know" he simply said taking a sip of his coffee.

Brooke was frustrated. Why was he even talking to her? She decided to hurry up packing up her stuff so she could get out of there. At the very same moment Rachel came out of the bathroom.

"Hey cheater. Where's your whore?" she said taking a stand next to Brooke.

Lucas became very uncomfortable. "She's not here" he said.

"Oh that's too bad…I would have loved to have met her" Rachel said sarcastically.

Lucas rolled his eyes. "Fine let's hear it Rachel. Call me all the names you want, call Julianne all the names you want. It doesn't matter to me" he said.

Rachel walked up to him. "You're lucky Brooke is here because I would doing a lot more then just namecalling if she wasn't" she murmured looking sternly into his eyes.

Lucas didn't say anything. He walked around Rachel to face Brooke. "Can I talk to you. Alone?" he said to her.

Brooke was about to say something when Rachel cut her off : "No way! There's just no way I'm leaving you alone with him!" She yelled.

Brooke looked down and thought for a minute. She really didn't owe him anything and she certainly didn't want to hear his apologies or rationalizations. But maybe it wasn't about that. She decided to let him have his say, at least this once. She looked up at them and Rachel was practically foaming at the mouth. "Rachel could you please wait outside for me?" she said.

"No! No! I'm not leaving you alone with him!" She yelled.

"Please Rachel. I need to do this" she pleaded.

Rachel seemed to calm down a little. "Fine…I'll be right outside the door so all you have to do is yell and I'll be back in here" she said.

"I know. Thanks" Brooke smiled at her.

Rachel left the apartment reluctantly but she had faith in Brooke. However Lucas was the only person that could tear down all her walls and she was afraid that he might do just that.

Brooke turned away from Lucas and took a few steps. "I've missed you so much" she whispered to the floor.

"I've missed you too.." he said.

Brooke turned to look at him with an icy glare. "No. You don't get to say that! You left me for someone else!" she shouted.

Lucas looked away from her stare, his gut instinct was to scream back NO! But he couldn't do that. He had to keep lying to her, for her sake.

_Flashback to a couple of weeks earlier…_

_Brooke was sitting in their apartment waiting for him. It was their anniversary. He was two hours late, he didn't want to be. It took everything in him to do this to the woman he loved, but he had to protect her. He walked in to find Brooke sitting in the __dining room. She looked furiou__s but beautiful none the less, she was wearing a gorgeus silk dress__, when she saw him she stood up._

_"Where have you been?! I told you to be here at eight o'clock!" she shouted._

_"I'__m __sorry__. I completely forgot about this__" he lied._

_"You forgot?! You forgot about our anniversary?!" Brooke yelled. Tears were forming in her eyes._

_Lucas felt the pain in his heart, when she said those words it felt like a knife had pierced through it.__ "__Yeah I had to stay in this meeting__…" he simply stated. He walked over to his desk and put his briefcase down next to it. He looked at the big blue picture frame his mother had given him. It had a picture of Brooke __and Lily __in it, __they __looked so beautiful__, so cheery. He had taken this picture a few months ago, Brooke and Lucas__ had go__ne to Central Park with Lily for the day. They were all so happy, it was before all this started._

_"Lucas! What is the matter with you?!" Brooke continued shouting at him. "Ever since you started working for Random House you've been distant and working late all the time. What is going on?!"_

_Lucas walked up to her and placed his hands on her shoulders: "Nothing is going on. I'm just working hard alright?" he said. He knew she wouldn't believe him, but then that was the point._

_Brooke shook her head in disbelief. "This isn't like you! Since you started working there you've turned into this completely different person.You're not the guy I fell in love with anymore" she said pulling away from him._

_"What are you talking about Brooke? I'm still the same guy!"__ h__e yelled._

_"No you're not! The__Lucas Scott __I know __would never ever have forgotten our anniversary!" she yelled back._

_Lucas lost it right there. Or so he pretended to. He took a vase from the dining table and smashed it on the wall. He roared in anger as he broke it. He looked at Brooke, she seemed frightened of him. __He was making progress.__ To his surprise Brooke walked up to him and put her arms around him.__ After holding him for a minute she cupped his face with her hands, she looked him in the eye and whispered: "Please tell me what's going on with you, I know this isn't you." _

_He took her hands off__ his face and held them in his. He pondered for a moment if he should just tell her the truth, they could get trough this together he thought.Then he decided it would be too dangerous. "Brooke, I've got to tell you the truth. I'm in love with someone else."_

_He looked her in the eye as he said it. It was the only thing he could think of to get Brooke to leave him. He saw the pain in her eyes as they filled up with tears. She pulled her hands away from his and took a few steps backwards._

_"No. I don't believe you" she said._

_Lucas put his hands in the pockets of his pants. "It's the truth. I've fallen in love with another woman. I'm sorry Brooke but I want to be with her."_

_Brooke looked more hurt then he had ever seen her. He was dying inside having to do this to her.Tears rolled down her face but she wiped them away as fast as they came._

_"Who is she?" she muttered._

_"She's someone I work with. You don't know her" he said._

_"What is her name?__" Brooke said to him._

_"Julianne" he said.__ "She's an editor."_

_"Julianne, an editor.." Brooke repeated. She took a seat, she looked dumbfounded. Lucas hoped she had believed him._

_After a minute Lucas asked her if she was alright. Brooke sighed, then she stood up and walked over to him. "Am I alright? Am I alright?!" she shouted. Lucas said nothing so she began hitting him. She hit his chest over and over again and for a moment he took the punches as they came, then he grabbed a hold of her arms and pulled her into his chest, she buried her face in him and cried hysterically for what seemed like an eternity. She had bought it._

Lucas was snapped back to reality, Brooke was still yelling at him and all he could was stand there and take it.

"How can you just stand there and not say anything?! What is the matter with you? " Brooke was getting more furious by the second and Lucas' silence was only making it worse.

"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry" he tried to say but his lips only formed the words, no words came out.

"Yeah. Apparently not enough" Brooke said while picking up the box of stuff and her purse. She made her way to the door. After opening it she turned around, Lucas was looking at her.

"I really hope that someday you'll figure out what it is that you really want. Goodbye" she said before walking out the door and closing it.

After she left, Lucas paced the floor trying to make sense of the mess he had created. The more he thought about it the more angry he became, he started pacing faster and faster until all his anger culminated in his fist hitting the wall. The punch left a little hole. He stared at it for a second and then he noticed Brucas looking at him. He gave him a little tap on the head and then headed for the bedroom.

Meanwhile in the elevator Rachel was asking Brooke about her conversation with Lucas: "What did he say?"

"Nothing" Brooke said.

"What do you mean? He didn't say anything at all?" Rachel asked.

"Sure he said something but nothing significant really. It was like talking to a wall, he just spaced out and acted all weird" Brooke said.

Rachel smiled. "Sure because I see walls acting weird all the time" she said sarcastically.

"I meant with the spacing!" Brooke said while bumping her hip against Rachel's.

Rachel couldn't stop smiling: "I know. So what are you doing tonight?"

"Nothing really. I was thinking about stopping by the office and doing some work" Brooke said.

"No way!" Rachel practically yelled: "You're coming with me and Jake to the Fall Out Boy show tonight."

"Nooo I'm not in the mood" Brooke said.

"Why not?! It'll be so much fun, you and Jake can catch up. I bet you'd like to see him" Rachel encouraged.

Brooke thought about it for a moment and then she came to the conclusion that she could do with an escape for a night. "Sure, I'll come" she said.

"Awesome! It's gonna be great!" Rachel said in a super excited tone.


	9. Get the party started

**Disclaimer:**** I own nothing One Tree Hill related.**

**Author's note:**** Hey everyone. I had to cut this chapter in two because it was so long. Enjoy:)**

**P.S. Thanks for the reviews, they inspire me a lot.**

**Chapter IX: Get the party started**

In a hotel room in Manhattan Michael Bolton's greatest hits were pumping on the stereo. Brooke was standing in front of the mirror and listening to her guilty pleasure. She was wearing a maroon halterdress that her friend Roberto Cavalli had designed specifically for her. She looked great but she didn't feel all that good. This had been a long day. The press conference and fighting with Lucas had left her in no mood to party but when Rachel Gatina got an idea in her head there was no talking her out of it. As Brooke was deciding which accessories she should wear someone knocked on the door of her hotel room. "Huh Rachel must be early" she said to herself as she walked over to the door. She opened it to find some very familiar faces: Mouth, Nathan and Haley were all standing there with big smiles.

"Oh my god!" Brooke squealed as she held out her arms to hug Mouth. "What are you guys doing here?" she asked Nathan and Haley as she pulled them in for a sandwhich hug.

"We're here to see you" Haley said as she tried to pry Brooke's hands off her, the hug had lasted for about thirty seconds at that point.

"Oh you guys are the best! Come on in." Brooke pointed to the living room and they all walked in and took their seats around the living room.

Brooke went to the kitchen and got beers for the guys and a couple of Cosmopolitans for her and Haley. When she walked into the living room they all were giggling a little.

"What is this music?" Haley asked Brooke trying to stifle her laughing.

"Oh this..it's uhh nothing really." Brooke said extremely embarrassed as she switched to the radio.

"So how are you doing?" Mouth asked Brooke while he grabbed a beer.

"I'm okay I guess. I saw Lucas today though. We got into a little bit of a fight…it wasn't terrible or anything but I just feel bad." She answered as she took a seat next to him.

"I just can't believe he did that to you…" Mouth said sincerely. "I don't know if I can still call him my friend after this."

"I know what you mean." Haley said.

Brooke noticed that everybody was getting a little depressed. She didn't want that to happen. "Let's not talk about him tonight okay?"

Everybody nodded and agreed with her.

"So where's Jamie?" Brooke asked the couple sitting across the table from her.

"He's staying with Karen tonight. We thought we'd spend the night with you and no interruptions." Nathan said smiling.

"Oh that's so nice of you guys. How are Karen and Lily by the way?" Brooke said.

Nathan took a sip of his beer. "Lily is good but according to my mom, Karen is not happy with Lucas. She's mad at him for screwing things up with you." Nathan said.

Brooke gave Nathan a small smile. "I miss her…and Lily too. I should really go see them soon ."

"Yeah I bet they'd love to see you." Haley said.

"So how is the company doing?" Mouth asked Brooke.

"Uhh not so good. Apparently everyone saw me and Lucas as the perfect couple and since we broke up some nasty rumours have circulated and they caused a dip in our sales. I held a press conference today though denying the rumours. I'm hoping that will do the trick." Brooke said shrugging her shoulders.

"That's terrible…people shouldn't listen to vicious gossip like that." Mouth said concerned.

"Yeah I know but apparently they do." Brooke sighed.

The moment Brooke uttered the last words her cell rang. The caller id said Rachel.

"Hi" Brooke said as she flipped her phone open.

"Hi whore! We're on our way, Jake, me and Bevin." Rachel almost yelled on the other end. "We're in a stretch limo!" She shouted.

"That's great" Brooke said. "Look I was wondering if you had more tickets?"

"Tickets?? Sure I have lots of tickets. Why?" Rachel asked sounding a little tipsy.

"Uhh Mouth, Nathan and Haley are here in a surprise visit." Brooke said hoping Rachel would let them come even if she disliked Haley.

"Oh I would love to see Mouth!" She kept yelling.

"Great! We'll head downstairs alright?" Brooke said.

"Yeah get your butts down in the lobby, we'll be there in a minute!" Rachel shouted and then hung up the phone.

Brooke smiled as she put her phone in her purse. "So you guys want to go to the Fall Out Boy show?"

"Sure why not" Nathan said.

Mouth nodded a yes but Haley looked annoyed.

"I really can't stand Rachel but I'll do it for you I guess" Haley said to Brooke.

"Thank you" Brooke smiled at her. "Now you guys get downstairs and wait for Rachel while I get Haley dressed" Brooke motioned for the boys to leave.

"Okay.." They said reluctantly and left the hotel room.

Haley looked mad: "I should have known this was coming."

"What? You don't want to look nice?" Brooke said trying to sound innocent.

"Fine, show me what you got" Haley said while Brooke took her hand and dragged her ass off the couch.

"I have this pink tube dress that you would look fab in!" Brooke squealed while tugging Haley towards the closet.

Haley pulled her hand away and folded her arms: "Brooke you know I hate pink"

"Oh I thought you would have changed your mind about that by now, anyway it doesn't matter. I've got tons of dresses" Brooke smiled and proceeded opening the closet doors.

Minutes later Haley and Brooke were in the lobby and Nathan spun Haley around.

"Wow! You look fantastic!" He said as he spun her in a little circle. She was wearing an emerald green dress that Brooke had designed. The dress hugged Haley's figure perfectly and Nathan loved how good her butt looked in it.

Haley beamed and put her arms around his neck: "Thank you my husband."

"No thank _you_" he said as he leaned in to kiss her lightly.

"They're here!" Brooke yelled excitedly.

They all got in the limo and everyone said hi, a few hugs and kisses were passed around and within seconds Rachel had a glass of champagne in everyone's hands.

"Here's to a Tree Hill reunion and a fab night out on the town!" Rachel said as she raised her glass.

They all toasted to this great night as the limo headed downtown…

Haley schooched over to sit next to Bevin. "Hey Bev, how are you? Where's Skills?"

Bevin smiled: "I'm good, I'm great actually. Skills is at home, he's got a big game on tomorrow so he needs to rest but he sends his love. I just talked to him before you guys joined us and he's really bummed to miss out on seeing you, Nathan and Mouth."

"Oh man I wish we could see him too, I miss talking to him…we'we drifted apart I guess" Haley said.

"Yeah we live so far apart from each other…you guys should move to New York." Bevin said smiling.

Haley shook her head: "No way, New York is no place to raise children and our lives are really settled in Tree Hill. Nathan and I both love our jobs and Jamie loves it there…why fix something that isn't broken?"

Bevin looked confused: "I don't know" she said.

On the other side of the limo Mouth and Rachel were catching up.

"So are you seeing anyone?" Rachel asked him.

"No not right now. I'm really focusing on my career at the moment" Mouth replied.

"Career smareer, doesn't mean a thing if you ain't got love" Rachel said and then winked at Jake who was talking to Nathan and Brooke.

"Yeah I know what you mean…Jake's a great guy, I'm happy for you Rachel. I really am" Mouth said smiling.

"Thank you Mouth, that means a lot" she smiled back.

"How are things with Lucas?" Jake asked Brooke.

"Uuhh over. Yeah, over, that's the only word to describe it. Totally over" she replied.

"I'm sorry Brooke. Luke's always been a good friend to me but I don't respect him at all after what he's done to you. I just want you to know that if you need anything, Rachel and I are at your beckon call" He said smiling at her.

"The same goes for me and Haley but you already knew that" Nathan said.

"Thanks..you guys are the best. You give me faith that not all men are pigs" Brooke smiled and then hugged both of them.

"We're here!" The driver yelled from the front seat.

"Fall Out Boy here we come!" Brooke yelled as she got out of the limo. Her party mood was finally back.


	10. In da club

**Disclaimer:**** I own nothing OTH related.**

**Author's note:**** Hey everyone. I'm almost done with my exams so I can concentrate better on this story. Hope you haven't given up on it. Thanks for the reviews:)**

**Chapter X: In da club**

The gang walked into Avalon and Rachel headed straight towards the bar with Jake in tow. Some unkown band was already warming up for Fall Out Boy and Brooke was on the dancefloor faster than a speeding bullet with Mouth trailing behind. Nathan and Haley went looking for seats.

"I forgot how good of a dancer you are!" Brooke shouted in Mouth's ear since the music was so loud.

„Who has cancer??!" Mouth shouted back.

Brooke laughed: "No dancer! You! Good! DANCER!" she screamed while using sign language as well.

Mouth made an O with his lips and then mouthed a thanks to Brooke. They carried on dancing the night away.

"Two vodkas on the rocks and one Sex on the beach!" Rachel yelled at the bartender. After paying him she motioned Jake to grab his vodka and picked up the other two drinks herself. She spotted Brooke and Mouth on the dancefloor and told Jake to go get them. After Jake complied she walked over to Nathan and Haley's table and put the drinks down. She took her fur coat off and sat down next to them.

"So how is little Jamie?" Rachel said smirking.

Haley put on her best fake smile and said: "Fine, he's just fine."

"Oh good." Rachel said fake smiling back.

"Why are you even asking? You hate kids." Haley said to her.

"What no!" Rachel pretended to be shocked at that statement "A lot has changed since you last saw me Haley, I mean I don't exactly love kids but I don't hate them either. I've got a stepdaughter now after all."

"Right." Haley said while rolling her eyes: "How is Jenny doing by the way?"

"Oh she's perfect, I love that girl" Rachel said with a fake grin.

Haley couldn't reply because Jake, Brooke and Mouth all came up to the table and sat down.

"Here is your drink." Rachel said while pushing the Sex on the beach cocktail towards Brooke.

"Thanks. Are you trying to get me drunk?" Brooke asked her friend.

"Only a little. I just want you to have a good time" Rachel said smiling.

Brooke smiled back: "This is a really nice place, I've never been here before" she said and then took a sip of her cocktail.

"I've been here a couple of times, it's a great place to go see a show and still be able to sit down when you want to. They don't allow too many peopl e in at the same time so it doesn't get too crowded." Rachel said.

Everybody nodded, they all thought this was a great place.

"It kinda reminds me of Tric, the way it's set up I mean" Jake said to the group.

"Yeah that's true, the stage looks similar to the one at Tric too" Haley replied.

"Well that makes sense since Peyton used to run this place" Rachel said.

Everyone was startled by hearing her name, Peyton, it was like she was dead or something.

"What did you say? Peyton managed here?" Brooke asked.

Rachel took a sip of her vodka while everyone waited for her response: "Yeah before her drug use got out of hand she managed this place and she made it hot. Until her life spiraled out of control and then she was fired, this place hasn't been as popular since. Peyton had a real knack for this stuff but you guys knew that already."

"I had no idea." Brooke said in a low voice, a big lump was forming in her throat. She found it difficult to talk about Peyton, the guilt was too much too handle. She downed her drink in three sips and tried to avoid everyone's glare.

Haley could sense that Brooke was feeling weird about this so she asked her if she'd like to go to the bathroom with her. Brooke nodded yes and they headed for the ladies'.

Brooke put her purse down on the table and looked at herself in the mirror. She looked great on the outside but on the inside she felt like she was dying. Why did Rachel have to bring up Peyton? She was starting to enjoy herself and not thinking about the mess her life had become until Rachel opened her big mouth. Brooke sighed and then pulled out lip gloss from her purse. A moment later Haley walked up to the sink next to her and washed her hands.

"How long are you going to keep blaming yourself for Peyton's problems?" Haley said while drying her hands with a paper towel.

Brooke sighed as she slicked on her lip gloss. She put the gloss back in the purse and then turned to Haley: "Look Haley I'm not one of those people that always assign blame on themselves. I'm simply not like that, I only blame myself for things that have actually been my fault. And this is no different. If it weren't for me then Peyton wouldn't be on drugs and that's that."

"Brooke you don't know that!" Haley yelled at her best friend. "Peyton has always had a weakness for drugs, she got it from Ellie…that has nothing to do with you!"

Brooke walked towards the door and turned to Haley: "You don't understand…" she said and then walked out the door.

Brooke was walking back to their table but somehow managed to take the longest possible route, she wasn't ready to join the party again so she found herself a barstool and took a seat. She looked over the people who were standing at the bar. There were a couple of handsome guys there who were eying her but she couldn't care less, in the past she might have snatched up some random guy and slept with him to numb the pain for a night but that was a long time ago. The bartender placed a drink in front of Brooke: "On the house. Looks like you could use it." he smirked.

"Thanks." Brooke fake smiled him and grabbed the drink. She knocked it back and then got up, she was ready to leave. The good mood she was in earlier was gone and from the looks of it, it wasn't coming back. As she made her way to the door someone bumped her on the shoulder and because of it she dropped her purse and everything in it spilled out. "Damn it." she muttered under her breath as she got down on all fours and started to gather all of her stuff.

"Well if it isn't miss Brooke Davis, hotshot designer, on her hands and knees in my old club. What are you doing? Had too much to drink?" A familiar voice hovering over her said.

Brooke looked up, it was Peyton. Her oldest friend. She looked better than Brooke had expected but still horrendous compared to her old beautiful self.

"No I dropped my purse." Brooke said as she put the last of her stuff in her purse and then stood up: "It's good to see you Peyton. How have you been?"

"How the fuck do you think I've been!?" Peyton snapped. She folded her arms and glared at Brooke.

"I don't know…you look good" Brooke said.

"Right..look why don't you just do me a favor and stay away from me and my hang out spots. In other words; get out and don't come back here again." Peyton said coldly.

"I'm sorry but I didn't know this is where you hang out. I was leaving anyways so.." Brooke said looking down. She couldn't handle Peyton's defiant stare any longer.

"Oh right. You're probably going home to sulk over Lucas, poor Brookie who never does anything wrong lost the man of her dreams…again" Peyton mocked, she leaned in closer to Brooke: "The problem with you and Lucas is that he will never be over me. I will always be there in his head and in his heart and there is nothing you can do about that."

Brooke felt the rage building up inside of her, she had tried to keep her cool but Peyton had crossed the line: "Lucas and I breaking up has nothing to do with you! Back in high school sure but you haven't been an issue for us for a long time now! He hasn't even talked to you in two years!"

To Brooke's surprise Peyton started laughing like a crazy person: "Is that what you think?" She said smirking at Brooke "Actually Luke and I have been talking a lot lately, since he dumped your sorry ass."

"What?" Brooke was taken aback.

"Yeah, in fact, he's here tonight. To see me." Peyton said pointing her index finger at herself. "I'm thinking tonight's the night, Lucas and I are gonna be back together and you can go rot in hell for all I care."

"You are so delusional. What about Julianne?" Brooke said.

"Who?" Peyton said in a agitated voice.

"The new love of Lucas' life. Don't tell me he hasn't told you about her, I mean, considering how close you guys have become?" It was Brooke's turn to mock now.

"What the fuck are you talking about? There is no Julianne or whatever the hell her name is. Just get out you fucking bitch and don't come back" Peyton said and then walked away from Brooke.

Brooke looked at Peyton walk away. She felt tears coming on but tried her best to keep them at bay. Suddenly someone grabbed her shoulders from behind and turned her around: "I saw that go down, are you alright?"

"Yeah Nate I'm fine" Brooke said trying to sound like she was not about to cry.

He pulled her in for a hug and scanned the room, he was going to find Peyton and give her a piece of his mind. After a moment his eyes halted on a tall blonde girl talking to a guy he did not expect to see. "I don't believe it" he muttered.

"What?" Brooke said as she pulled out of the hug, she followed Nathan's eyes to find Peyton and Lucas talking by the stage: "Oh my god she was telling the truth, he came to see her."

"We don't know that, it could be a coincidence" Nathan sighed.

"I don't think it is" Brooke said to herself.

"I'm doing good." Peyton said smiling at Lucas.

"Good. At least one of us is." Lucas said.

"Oh is something wrong?" Peyton asked him.

"Brooke stopped by today. It was pretty brutal." Lucas sighed.

"Oh…I'm sorry." Peyton said. She took a step closer to him: "Luke, who is Julianne?"

Lucas looked at her with questions in his eyes: "How do you know about her?"

"Brooke told me. Who is she? And how come you haven't mentioned her during one of our talks in the past few weeks?" Peyton said.

"I made her up alright!" Lucas was getting annoyed: "Brooke needed a reason so I gave her one. Wait, what did you say when she told you about Julianne?"

"Nothing, I brushed it off when she mentioned the name. Anyway why would you make up another woman ? You needed to give her a fake reason why you were leaving her?" Peyton asked.

"Yeah I needed some cover story that wouldn't invite a lot of questions. Telling her I was leaving her for another woman was the only thing I could think of." He said looking into Peyton's eyes. They were hazy.

"But why would you do that?" Peyton asked him.

"I can't tell you. Not right now anyway. I need to figure out a way out if this mess and maybe then…" he paused.

"Then what?" Peyton said.

"Then I'll explain everything to Brooke and hope that she forgives me and takes me back." He said.

"What? You want her back?!" Peyton raised her voice a little.

"Yes of course I do, I only left her because I was forced to do it. I never wanted to leave her, like I told you: I still love her and I always will." Lucas gave Peyton a small smile and then it faded.

Peyton looked down at the floor: "I thought you had given up on her. I mean you told me you had screwed things up but I figured there was no turning back after that, especially since you hurt her so many times before. I was waiting for you to figure out that she's not the one for you Luke…I am." She didn't look up at him until she spoke the very last words.

"Peyton I don't know what to say." Lucas said.

"Say it's me. You told me once that it was me you wanted standing next to you once all your dreams came true. Tell me I'm still that person for you" She said with a voice that had started to break.

"I can't do that Peyton. I made a mistake that day because Brooke was that person for me then and she still is now. I'm sorry…" He said.

"No no no I don't understand!" Peyton yelled, she was getting angry: "You say she's the one but how come things have never worked out for you then?! HUH?! Tell me Lucas!??" She said waving her hands at him.

He grabbed her arms and looked into her eyes. They were still hazy, she must have taken something bad. "Peyton please calm down!" He begged her: "I want you to know that you still mean the world to me as a friend and I want nothing more than to help you."

Peyton shook herself free from his grasp and then slapped him: "I don't need your help Lucas Scott! You disgust me! I hate you!!" She yelled and then stormed off.

Lucas held his cheek in pain, he wondered if he would ever see the old Peyton Sawyer again. The Peyton Sawyer that had changed his life for the better. He made his way to the door and left.

Across the room Brooke and Nathan had observed the whole interaction between Lucas and Peyton. They hadn't heard anything but from the body language it didn't look like they were having a heart to heart.

"Oh man that was brutal." Nathan said when they saw Peyton slap Lucas.

"I kinda feel bad for him..I know I shouldn't but still…" She said.

"Forget about him, come dance with me." Nathan said offering his hand.

Brooke shook her head: "No Nate I'm sorry but I just don't feel like dancing. Not after seeing that."

"All the more reason to dance! Come on it'll take your mind off it." Nathan said. He started to do a little dance to the music and Brooke laughed. He was still the terrible dancer he was in high school.

"Oh what the hell." She said and then took his hand. They made their way to the floor and Brooke tried her best to dance without chuckling at Nathan's horrendous dance moves.

A few minutes later Fall Out Boy started playing and everybody had a good time, including Brooke. Around 6 A.M. she was sitting in a taxi heading to her hotel. She had a smile on her face, partly because she had a good time and partly because she was a little drunk. Her cell phone rang and she flipped it open without looking at the caller id.

"Hellooo." She said into the phone.

"Uh hello. Brooke is that you?" A man's voice on the other end said.

"Yep my name is Brooke Davis. And who are you mister?" Brooke said giggling.

"It's Larry. Larry Sawyer." He said.

"Oh hi Larry how have you been?" Brooke said trying to sound serious.

"I'm not so good. You see the reason I'm calling is that Peyton overdosed on heroin earlier tonight. It's not looking too good for her. I want you to come to the hospital." Larry said.

Brooke was in shock. She had seen Peyton a few hours ago and she had seemed fine.

"Brooke, are you still there?" Larry's voice came from Brooke's phone which was in her lap.

She picked it up: "Yes I'm still here and I'm coming to the hospital right now. Which one is it?"

"Mount Sinai." He said.

"I'm on my way." Brooke said and hung up.


	11. People are strange

**Disclaimer:**** I own nothing OTH related:(**

**Author's note:**** Hey sorry I took so long to add this chapter but I couldn't figure out a way to end it. I need inspiration..Anywho here is the next chapter. Enjoy and happy new year!**

**Chapter XI: People are strange**

Brooke walked frantically down the halls of Mount Sinai hospital. "Where is the damn front desk." She thought to herself, a second later she found a nurse and asked her, turns out she had used the wrong entrance and the front desk was in another wing of the hospital. The nurse gave her directions and she found it . "Any news on Peyton Sawyer? Can I see her?" Brooke asked the receptionist who was on the phone, she signalled Brooke to give her a minute. After a lot of sighing and finger tapping on Brooke's part the phone call was finally over and the receptionist turned to Brooke: "Yes miss?"

"Davis, Brooke Davis. Look I need to know where Peyton Sawyer is? Is she ok?" Brooke blurted out in one breath.

"I'm sorry miss Davis but I can only give out this information to family members." The receptionist said calmly.

"What!? She's my best friend! I've known her practically my whole life!" Brooke argued.

"I'm sorry but it's hospital policy." The receptionist replied.

"Looks like somebody's a little drunk on power! I'm telling you one phone call to my lawyer and your ass is fired! You'll be out of here faster than a-" Brooke yelled before getting cut off.

"Brooke it's okay, I'm here." Larry was standing behind Brooke and had heard her yelling all the way down the hall.

Brooke turned around: "Oh hi Larry. Mister Sawyer. Larry Sawyer." She said before realizing how stupid she sounded.

"Just call me Larry." He said and gave her a faint smile. "Come with me. Peyton's in a room down the hall."

"Okay." Brooke said and then followed Larry.

"I must warn you, she doesn't look good." Larry said as they walked down the hall.

Brooke wasn't at all prepared for what she saw. Peyton was lying in a hospital bed with all kinds of tubes and machines hooked up to her. She was so pale that she could count the veins she saw through her skin.Brooke gasped a little when she saw her but she didn't want Larry to panic so she composed herself quickly. She walked over to Peyton's bedside and took her hand.

"Oh P.Sawyer what have you done to yourself" she said.

"She's in a coma. The doctors don't know if she can hear us but it's a good idea to talk to her." Larry said.

Brooke looked up at him: "What happened?"

"I don't know the full story, apparently some friend of hers called an ambulance after finding her in an alley behind a club. She had stopped breathing." Larry said, his voice was shaky.

"Oh my god she stopped breathing? For how long?" Brooke asked him.

"I don't know…" Larry said before turning away. He stared out the window for a moment and then turned back to Brooke. "Brooke when was the last time you saw her? Talked to her?"

"Earlier tonight actually. We barely spoke two words to each other though…she seemed fine." Brooke sighed.

"She seemed fine to you?" Larry asked again.

"Yeah I was so surprised when you called me that I dropped the phone. I didn't expect this at all." Brooke said still holding Peyton's hand.

"So nothing happened between you two that might have set this off?" Larry said while rubbing the back of his neck.

"Well not with me and her but I did see her talking to Lucas, she slapped him and then stormed off. I don't know what they were talking about but it seemed pretty brutal." Brooke said.

"Lucas…right do you have his number?" Larry asked.

"Sure." Brooke said pulling out her cell phone. She flipped trough her phonebook and found Lucas' entry, then she handed the phone to Larry.

Larry looked at Brooke's cell and punched in Lucas' number on his own cell. Then he handed Brooke her phone back and left the room.

Brooke scanned the room to find a chair. She found an old plastic one and pulled it up to Peyton's bedside. She took a seat and grabbed a hold of Peyton's hand again. It was cold and clammy. "Peyton, I know that we haven't been the best of friends lately but I want you to know that I'm here for you…I'll always be here for you." Brooke said to her oldest friend.

"Brooke I called Lucas and he's on his way." Larry said walking back into the room.

Brooke flinched. Her initial reaction was to run a mile so she wouldn't have to face him but then she remembered the hand she was holding. She couldn't leave her.

"I'm hoping he has some answers as to what happened." Larry said to Brooke.

"Yeah that makes sense." Brooke said.

"Look I gotta go take care of something at work. It won't take long but would you mind staying with her while I'm gone?" Larry said.

"Sure no problem." Brooke smiled.

"Thank you." Larry smiled back, he said goodbye to his daughter and then left.

An hour later Brooke was asleep on the uncomfortable plastic chair. She hadn't planned on falling asleep but she was so tired from having stayed up all night that she dozed off. She woke up to someone nudging her shoulder and saying her name.

"Brooke wake up." He said.

Brooke heard Lucas' voice asking her to wake up. It had happened many times before as she had the habit of dozing off during odd hours. She smiled to herself, her sweetheart was waking her up. It was one of the best feelings in the world and for a moment she got it back, that was before coming out of her daze and fully awakening. She looked around a bit disoriented, she had a blanket on and she was sleeping in a chair, then she remembered. She looked over at Peyton as she sat up in the chair. She looked the same as before. Then she turned her gaze to Lucas. He was standing next to her.

"Hi." She said in her raspy voice as she ran a hand through her hair.

"Hi." He replied. He was happy to see her but he couldn't let on. "Where's Larry?"

"Umm he had some work to do, he said he'd be back soon though." Brooke said.

Lucas buried his hands deep in his pockets and stared at the ceiling. He had a hard time looking at Peyton because of how terrible she looked and he also had a hard time looking at Brooke out of fear that she would see the truth in his eyes.

"Can you believe it has come to this? I mean, she overdosed on heroin. I never thought it would go this far." Brooke said as she eyed Peyton.

"I know…and it's all my fault." Lucas said before taking a few steps around the room.

"I know you've always blamed yourself and so have I but.." Brooke got cut off.

"No I don't mean that. I mean about last night. This incident. This overdose. It wasn't an accident, at least I don't think so. She meant to overdose. I think she was trying to kill herself." Lucas said. He had placed his eyes on the floor now and he couldn't tear them away.

Brooke cringed at Lucas' words. "What do you mean? Is this about the fight you two had at Avalon?" She said.

Lucas looked surprised. Did Brooke overhear them?

"I saw you guys fighting. I didn't hear what it was about though." She said.

Lucas sighed and secretly thanked God. "She thought that she and I were getting back together, when I told her that it wasn't gonna happen she flipped out."

"Because of Julianne.." Brooke half-whispered.

"Yeah..yeah." He said.

"So she didn't know about Julianne up until then?" Brooke asked.

Lucas was getting nervous with all the questions about Julianne. He swallowed a big gulp of saliva and then said: "No..I hadn't told her yet."

"Right..I talked to her right before she talked to you last night and she told me that you two were getting back together, I thought she was just toying with me but she actually believed it." Brooke glanced over at Peyton.

"Yeah she was a bit delusional..must have been the drugs." He said.

"Yeah.." Brooke said.

The room fell silent. It was an awkward silence between three people who had spent years in a tumultous triangle of love, betrayal and jealousy. Thankfully Lucas' cell phone started ringing and he picked it up. "Hi what's up?" He said as he answered and then he turned his back to Brooke and Peyton. As he continued on talking Brooke leaned in to Peyton's ear and mumbled in a sarcastic tone that the lovely Julianne must be the one he's talking to.

"Sure I can meet you there. At noon? Okay see you then. Bye." He hung up the phone and then turned back to Brooke and Peyton. "Sorry about that."

"It's fine." Brooke smiled, she smiled because she had a plan.

A few moments later Larry returned and greeted Lucas. They talked about what happened at Avalon the previous night and Larry seemed satisified with Lucas' answers, although he left out the part that he thought Peyton did this on purpose.

The three of them talked for a little while until Lucas realized that the clock was closing in on noon. He told Brooke and Larry that he had to leave for work but really he had an appointment during lunch, unbeknownst to him Brooke was going to follow. About 5 seconds after Lucas left, Brooke told Larry that she was going to get something to eat. She walked down the hall and saw Lucas exit the building, he waved down a Taxi and as soon as it sped off Brooke caught one too. She told the driver to follow the cab that was right in front of them and meanwhile she picked up her cell phone and dialed Rachel's number.

"Hi scheming bitch. What's up?" Rachel said on the other end.

"Hi Rachel, you're gonna think I'm crazy but I'm in a cab following Lucas who is in another cab."

"Why?" Rachel simply asked.

"Because we were in the hospital and…well it's a long story but I think he's going to meet Julianne for lunch and I really need to see what she looks like and how they are together so I'm following him." Brooke blurted out in one breath. "Yep this is what I have become: a pathetic stalker to my ex-boyfriend and his new girlfriend."

"Wow slow down. You were in the hospital? Why? They can't cure slutiness." Rachel said.

"Ha ha very funny and yeah I'm fine, it's not me. Look I'll call you later and tell you everything cause Lucas' cab just pulled over." Brooke said and then hung up the phone without saying goodbye.

She watched Lucas step out of his cab. It was right in front of a restaurant called Il mare, he took a quick look around and then entered the restaurant. Brooke paid her cab driver and then got out, she put on her sunglasses in hopes of not being recognized as she walked fast into the restaurant. She had only walked a few feet in when she saw Lucas sitting down at a table, she hurried behind a column and hid, a few weird glares later she peeked out to find Lucas looking annoyed at the person he was sitting with, she inched herself a little further out from the column to see the much talked about Julianne and there she was. In all her glory. Brooke was schocked, Julianne looked nothing like she had expected. She picked up her phone and called Rachel again.

"Hey what happened with Lucas?" Rachel asked.

"I'm in a restaurant watching him with Julianne. I finally got a good look at her." Brooke whispered.

"And???" Rachel was curious.

"She's….old!" Brooke said.

"What!? He left you for some old hag? At least tell me she's a cougar!" Rachel almost yelled.

"No she's not a cougar. I'd say far from it. She's not bad looking but she's certainly not attractive. She's got to be about 45 years old..this woman can't be Julianne. Or is she?" Brooke said astounded at what she was seeing.

"Okay this doesn't make any sense. Say what you want about Lucas but he's always had good taste in women's looks, I mean he thinks I'm hot right?" Rachel said.

"Rachel would you stop making this about you! I'm spying on my ex here and I really need to stay focused!" Brooke was getting annoyed with Rachel.

"Sorry. So I've got a plan. Go over there and "accidentally" bump into them. Then he'll have to introduce you and then you'll know for sure if it's her. If you don't you'll always wonder…" Rachel said.

Brooke thought about what Rachel was saying for a moment, she was right. She had to find out if this was Julianne. "Gotta go, call you later bye." She said and then hung up. She took off her sunglasses and looked at herself in them, she looked okay considering everything that had happened and the little sleep she got. She ran a few fingers through her hair and put her sunglasses in it, then she casually walked into the restaurant dining area as if she had just entered the place. She saw that Lucas noticed her coming and tried to hide behind his menu. "So pathetic.." she mumbled to herself. A moment later she was standing at their table and Lucas realized that the menu hadn't worked very well. "Hi Brooke. What are you doing here?"

"I'm having lunch. Just like you seem to be doing. Only with company." Brooke turned her head to the woman who smirked at her: " You must be Julianne right?"

"Julianne?" The woman said still smirking at Brooke.

"Uh no this is Monica. We work together." Lucas explained to Brooke. Then he turned to Monica: "Monica, this is Brooke Davis, fashion designer."

"I know who she is. Clothes over bro's. I'm a fan of your work miss Davis." She said while exposing her snaggle teeth.

"Thank you. So you work with Lucas at Random House? Then you must know Julianne?" Brooke said.

Lucas started sweating.

"Um no I don't know her. Should I?" Monica said turning to Lucas.

"Well she is Lucas' new girlfriend and office romances rarely go unnoticed." Brooke shot in before Lucas could utter a word.

Monica let out a sour laugh: "Sorry sweetheart but I don't keep up with who's dating who at the office. Now excuse me, I must go to the ladies." She said before grabbing her purse and marching her navy-suited figure to the bathroom.

Lucas sank down in his chair. Brooke was way too close to finding out the truth.

"What's going on Lucas?" Brooke asked Lucas with folded arms.

"Nothing. What do you mean? I can't have lunch with a co-worker?" Lucas said.

"Something is up. I know you." She said looking into his eyes, she saw fear and doubt.

"Nothing is up alright!" Lucas said as he threw his napkin on the table. Then he stood up and leaned close to Brooke: "Stop it okay. Whatever you're doing. Just stop it." He said in a serious voice.

Brooke leaned back: "Are you threatening me? This isn't like you Lucas. Something is very wrong."

"Stop it okay!" Lucas shouted. Heads turned in the restaurant but Brooke didn't waver.

"What are you hiding that's so bad?" Brooke said in a calm voice, she didn't want to yell back.

Lucas' eyes looked like they were going to drill holes into Brooke's head. Then he half-whispered with a somber voice: "Leave it." And then he walked away.

Brooke stared at the wall for a moment and then walked out too. She saw Lucas get into a cab, he was on his cell-phone, probably calling Monica to explain his sudden departure she assumed. Brooke tried hailing a cab but had no luck, while she was trying Monica came out of the restaurant. She lit up a cigarette and glared at Brooke.

"What?" Brooke said to her.

"Nothing. It's just so sweet that you still see Lucas as that innocent boy who does no wrong. He's not perfect you know." Monica said puffing out smoke.

"Trust me. I know" Brooke said while waving the smoke away. "So you really don't know who Julianne is?" Brooke asked again.

"No. It's a big company, lots of divisions." She said.

"But you and Lucas must work in the same division right?" Brooke asked.

"Sure we do." Monica said baring her ugly teeth again.

"Well Julianne is in Lucas' division if I remember correctly so therefore she must be in your division." Brooke stated.

"It's a big division sweetheart. Why do you care so much about this Julianne girl anyway? Is it because she stole your precious boyfriend and now you're all alone? Boo hoo." Monica said.

"Okay you don't even know me. How dare you talk to me this way??" Brooke said.

"Whatever sweetheart." She simply said and then kept on puffing.

"Ugh finally!" Brooke yelled as a yellow cab pulled up next to her. She got in and noticed Monica glaring at her from the sidewalk. That woman creeped her out.


	12. Long way to happy

**Disclaimer:**** I own nothing OTH related:(**

**Author's note:**** Hey everyone. ****This story will be coming to an end soon. Only a few more chapters to go:) Hope you like this one.**

**Chapter XII****: Long way to happy.**

A few days later after Peyton had overdosed, Brooke was at her bedside for the zillionth time. She had barely left her side, only to get something to eat and make fast decisions for _Clothes over bro's_. She even slept at the hospital. She was going to be there once Peyton awakened and Larry was very grateful. This day Brooke had brought Peyton tulips, her favorite flower. They were tall and elegant. Much like Peyton, or how she used to be before drugs took over her life.

"Hey Brooke, you're back already? You really should get to work or go home and relax. I can call you if anything changes." Larry said walking into the room holding a cup of coffee. He looked tired and worn-out.

"I really can't relax if I'm away from her, I have this feeling everytime I leave that something bad is gonna happen and I just can't seem to shake it. Plus I really want to be here when she wakes up you know?"

"Yeah." Larry smiled. Brooke really was the best friend Peyton had ever had and he knew that.

Brooke smiled back and then jumped at the feel of a vibration on her thigh, that was her cellphone ringing. She picked it up and was pleased to see Haley's name flash on the screen instead of someone from work hassling her. "Hi Hales what's up?"

"Hey Brooke. Are you free for lunch? If you are willing to leave the hospital for five minutes that is."

"I can tear myself away for lunch but only because it's you." Brooke said smiling.

"Great. I'll meet you at Il mare at noon. Bye." Haley said and then she was off the line before Brooke could get a word in.

Brooke looked at her phone and mumbled something about Il mare. Then she turned to Peyton and took her hand.

"I'm going to get me some more coffee." Larry said as he walked out the door.

"Okay.." Brooke said in a bearly audible voice. She took a seat next to Peyton's bed and looked at her. She looked better than before, much healthier than she had looked in a long time. "I miss you P.Sawyer. I have missed you so much these past few months and years we've been apart. I wish you would come back.." Brooke said before her voice broke. "…just please come back." She said and then buried her head in the covers next to Peyton's weak body. There she let her tears silently flow. Tears of guilt, of regret, of anger, of pain and of heartache. She wept for Peyton , for Lucas and for herself. They had all hurt each other so much and for a moment Brooke asked God to take the pain away from all of them, if only for a moment.

"Hi wow you look great." Brooke said to Haley as they hugged. They were at Il Mare, the infamous restaurant where Brooke and Lucas had had their last fight.

"You too. A bit tired but still good." Haley said and then they took their seats.

They both ordered the chicken salad and as they dug in to it Haley asked Brooke about Peyton's condition.

"She looks so much better, you need to come see her and just be amazed at how much better she looks." Brooke said beaming.

"Yeah I'll have to come see her soon."

"So how is my godson?"

"He's good, Nathan took him to a basketball game the other night, I forget the names of the teams but anyway he had a great time!"

"Okay hon..any chance that one of those teams might have been the Knicks?" Brooke said.

"Yes! That's it! Thanks Brooke."

Brooke laughed at Haley's clueless moment. "Sure no problem."

"So any idea on how long you guys are going to be staying in New York?" Brooke asked.

Haley dug her fork into some chicken as she listened to Brooke. "Um no not really, I just feel like there is so much going on here with you and Lucas and Peyton that we can't go. Not now."

Brooke nodded. "That's good. Lord knows I need your support but what about Tree Hill High? Aren't they going crazy without their basketball coach and their most awesome teacher?"

"Neh I think they're coping just fine. Mrs. Simms is back from maternity leave so they are fully staffed and Nathan says that his assistant coach can handle things right now with the team, the state championships are miles away so…I guess they're fine without us for now."

"That's great…for me!" Brooke grinned.

Haley laughed and then proceeded to tell Brooke about the Knicks game that Nathan took Jamie to.

Lucas was sitting on a coworker's desk going over campaign ideas for a thrilling autobiography that Random House was going to publish. These days the only enjoyment he had in his life was his work and he took pride in it.

"Lucas Eugene Scott!" He heard yelling from behind him. He turned to see his mother standing with arms crossed. She looked mad.

"Heyyy mom." He spoke nervously as he got up from the desk. He put the papers down before taking a few steps towards her with his arms spread out ready to hug her. Instead he got a smack on the head.

"Ow! Why'd you do that for?!" He said holding his head in pain.

"Because you're an ass!" Karen yelled at he son. "I love you but you're an ass." She said more calmly.

"Okay can we please go into my office?" Lucas said motioning in the direction of his office.

Lucas closed the door to his office and turned to meet his mother's icy glare.

"So mom what's going on?"

"I can't believe you broke Brooke's heart AGAIN!!!" Karen almost had smoke coming out of her ears.

Lucas scolded himself in his mind for not realizing what this was about.

"I know mom, I'm an idiot. But I'm gonna get her back.."

"How?! I'm thinking you are just about out of chances with that girl!"

"Mom please just calm down. Where's Lily?"

"She's with Nathan and Jamie. I didn't want her to see this." Karen sighed as she sat down in a leather chair.

"Look mom I just got into some trouble that's all. Once it's over I'm gonna win her back okay?"

"No that is not okay! What kind of trouble? And who is Julianne?"

"Mom please don't get worked up again." Lucas said as he paced the room. "I can't tell you what's going on with me or anything about Julianne. I just need you to know that I had to push Brooke away for a reason. It's not because I don't love her anymore, cause I do. In fact, before all this happened…I was going to ask her to marry me."

Karen's face lit up: "Really?"

Lucas walked over to his desk and opened up the top drawer. He pulled out a little purple box and opened it. The ring inside had a huge diamond on it and Karen gasped at the sight of it.

"It's beautiful…You must have really gotten into some bad trouble to push her away. I mean if this is how you felt about her…" Karen was interrupted by Lucas' groans.

"That's exactly why I pushed her away, because I love her. I needed to protect her."

Karen stood up and reached out over the desk to grab her son's hand. "I see. Well if there's anything I can do to help…"

Lucas nodded: "Just don't tell anyone about this."

"You got it. Love you my boy." Karen said and then walked out of his office.

Lucas slumped down into his chair and looked at the ring. One of these days he was going to slip that ring on to Brooke Davis' finger and keep it there for the rest of their lives.

That afternoon Brooke was back in Peyton's hospital room. She was reading to her from 'The Notebook'. Brooke sighed as she read through the pages: "If only a love like that were real huh Peyton?" She looked up to see Peyton's unresponsive face. A moment later there was a small knock on the door, Nathan and Haley walked in.

"Hi Brooke. Hi Peyton. How's she doing?" Nathan asked .

"She's doing much better." Brooke smiled.

"Good." Nathan walked over to Peyton's bedside and took her hand.

"Hey Peyt. I know how much you hated it when I called you that. It's funny how it seems like a lifetime ago but…we miss you so please wake up soon okay?"

Haley and Brooke looked at each other, both of them had tears filling up their eyes. They all sat down and talked for about an hour before Haley realized that they had to pick up Jamie from the hospital daycare. When they had left Brooke looked at Peyton.

"Well P.Sawyer I hope you had a good time reminiscing like we did." Brooke smiled at her friend. Her smiles were all fake these days as Brooke knew that with each passing day the chances of Peyton waking up healthy were getting slimmer. She had to put on a brave face and act like it didn't bother her but deep down she was worried sick about her old best friend.

"I have to go now, visiting hours are almost over. I'll see you bright and early tomorrow morning." Brooke said with the most upbeat voice she could manage.

She walked to the door and stopped: "I love you Peyton. In spite of all that's happened you are still the best friend I've ever had." She spoke those words without turning around. It was too hard for her to face Peyton and say that. Then she walked down the corridor of the hospital and broke down in tears. The pressure of keeping a happy face on was getting too much to handle. Brooke reached for her cellphone only to find it wasn't in her pocket. "Damn I must've left it in Peyton's room." She mumbled as she hurried back to the room. When she entered the room Peyton's eyes were open. Brooke gasped in shock and tried to cover her mouth with her hands but it was too late, the gasp was out there.

Peyton raised her hand a little and managed to point to a glass of water on the table next to her.

Still in shock, Brooke didn't move a muscle for a moment. She just stood there staring at Peyton. "I'm sorry, you want some water?" She finally managed to blurt out.

"Yes." Peyton said, her voice was strained.

Brooke took the glass and helped Peyton take a sip. She managed to swallow a couple of gulps of water.

"I'm going to tell the doctor that you're awake." Brooke said to Peyton with a small smile.

As Brooke turned to leave Peyton grabbed her arm tightly. "Ow what the hell!" Brooke said facing Peyton. Peyton pulled her in closer and said: "Lucas made up Julianne".

Brooke's eyes widened at this statement: "What?"

Peyton tried to speak again but instead she started coughing intensively.

"I'm gonna get the doctor now." Brooke said as she turned to leave.


End file.
